Tales From Beyond the Pride Lands
by Narfy
Summary: chapter 20 up! There can only be one Storyteller at a time in Africa. And Kijani, son of Kovu and Kiara has been the one chosen for the job. What stories does he have to tell? Well I would suggest that you read and find out.
1. Coming Home

A/N: Ha Ha well look who's back! After a long break from this section of the site I finally have a new story up. I hope you all enjoy it, basically it's going to be many different stories told by Kijani and if any of you have any ideas for a short story let me know and I will try to work it out in my head. Also I will have one crossover with The Simpson's that will be a little longer than the others, so far I can't wait to write that one but it probably won't happen until chapter 10. The stories will be a mixed bag of ideas as well, some will be sad, some adventurous, and some with great hilarity, at least I'll try that any way. So we will see how it goes.

This story is dedicated to those writers out there that kept me going even when I didn't want to and those people are: **bdlywrttn, Pichooi, MinisterSweetGoodKid, Fanboy101, Kahllynn, Airezi, SunRise19, MorpheusDreamer**, and of course **Big Pappa Smurf**. Oh wait.

If I left anyone out, please kick my ass.

Disclaimer: I don't own Simba, Kiara, Kovu and whoever else was in the lion king. The random characters you have never seen are mine but you can use them if you ask politely. And if you have never read any of my stories and have no idea who half the characters are, well it might be a good idea to skim through those stories just to know more about them.

So without further ado, here is the story.

* * *

The sun was finally setting after a long hot day; the sky was now turning into beautiful pinks, oranges and reds. In a little while the animals would move about and do what they normally would do during the day time. Nighttime had become a better time because of how bad the dry season had become. It had been hotter than normal for the past five months and many of the animals had suffered greatly. Many died from heat exhaustion while some left for a more suitable place for themselves. 

It hadn't been this bad since the reign of the horrible King Scar, but luckily to them the skies would darken soon and rain would come.

"I can sense it, my old paw never lies, the rain will be here soon," Old Simba would say before a nice big rainstorm. Usually he was off by a week or so but like he said they never failed to come.

Simba had said this for the first time that morning and everyone was looking to the skies and waiting, all day the sky was blue but their hopes would not fade, Simba was not quite senile yet.

Conga was more excited about the rain than anyone else, she hated morning reports during the dry season, nothing ever happened really. News was slow and there was not much to do save for helping the lions baby-sit the pride cubs. There were four of them this year, three females and a male. The male was Kovu's son Haidar's; he had been given the name Jelani. The three females were triplets by a lioness named Naima. Her cubs were named Uzuri, Asha, and Kali.

Conga sighed as the sun continued to disappear behind the horizon, it was another day without rain, hopefully tomorrow would change all that. Of course this also meant that by the time the rains stopped, Kiara would step down as queen and Haidar would rule in her place along with his mate Azmera.

It was surprising how long Kiara and Kovu had ruled, almost eleven years. But it wasn't the longest out of any of the kings and queens of the past, the longest had been fifteen. They had been good rulers no doubt about that, but not as good as Simba had been and definitely not as great as Mufasa. Some of the older animals of the lands still talked about him and his amazing rule.

For a moment Conga turned her gaze away from the sun and looked toward some nearby trees, they were rustling which meant someone was coming out for the night. Sure enough, a young giraffe appeared and stood there for a moment watching the sun go down as well.

Conga instantly recognized her, it was Kifaa, she was often Conga's information on anything she may have missed during the day. At the moment, Kifaa was nearing the end of her pregnancy, her second one in fact, so she slept often, but somehow she did not miss anything. Conga knew she probably had some information, so she flew toward her.

"Good evening Conga," Kifaa said as Conga few toward her.

"Hello Kifaa, anything interesting happen today?" asked Conga as she landed on top of her head between her horns or osecones which the giraffes often referred to.

"Everything was quiet up until about noontime when my husband Mazi was interrupted by some rustling in the bushes not far from here," said Kifaa.

"Oh it was probably just some hyenas playing," said Conga knowing how often the hyenas enjoyed a game of 'annoy the giraffe.'

"Oh no it was definitely not a hyena this time, it was a lion, a big male, one I've never met before, I don't even think he is part of your pride," said Kifaa.

Conga looked worried, she knew how big male lions would travel to find a pride to call their own and fight for it too. Just last year they had one come in and fight Kovu but Kovu was too strong for him and the lion ran off after one heavy blow to the head. If this lion was still around, he would surely want to try and take over.

"Did you talk to him at all?" asked Conga.

"Of course not, Mazi actually scared him once we discovered what he was. Mazi is a little too protective around me when my pregnancy is almost near the end," said Kifaa.

"So is he still here at all?" asked Conga.

"Mazi actually has him cornered so he's not going any where any time soon," said Kifaa.

"Well then take me to him," said Conga.

Kifaa nodded and hobbled over to where Mazi had been spending half the day in the bushes, stamping his hooves at the stranger that entered the pride lands. Mazi was in his late teens and very protective of his females especially when their pregnancy was nearing an end, he wanted his loins to be as big as possible so his genes could travel far. So far his children numbered twenty-two, fifteen females and seven males. Last he heard, his first daughter had a son who met a female and together had a child, he was already a great-grandfather. He had a slight limp from the first battle he ever had over his territory and herd but to him it was nothing and like he always said, "You should have seen the other guy."

When Conga arrived she saw him charge forward a bit before snorting angrily at the stranger below him.

"Do that again and my hooves will definitely meet your head," said Mazi angrily. For a giraffe he sure looked vicious.

"I just want to see my dad," came a voice from the bushes.

"A likely story, you just want to hurt my girl and have her end up getting all stressed out and giving birth early," said Mazi.

Conga's eyes lit up when she heard the lion say he wanted to talk to his father, it would only mean one thing, Kijani was back.

"Wait Mazi stop, I think I know him," said Conga.

"If you don't, you want me to finish him for you so he won't try to take over the pride?" asked Mazi.

"I'll let Kovu or Kiara decide on that," said Conga.

Mazi let out a snort of disgust and watched the stranger come out of the bushes while Conga called to him. Cautiously the lion came out and behind him another carnivore, this time a wild dog. Conga did not need any more proof than that to know that Kijani had come home.

Kijani now had a full mane on his head, he still had that straggly look but he looked more mature and ready to do any kind of bidding. His face still bore the scars from the battle between the hyenas long ago, they did not look as bad as the last time she saw them but she could tell that it kept many at bay.

Hondo still looked exactly the same, except he was a little bigger and a little more muscular. He looked just as mature as Kijani as if he had helped him through many adventures.

"Hi Conga," Kijani said sheepishly.

"Let him go Mazi, I am sorry you had to spend so many hours keeping him at bay," said Conga.

"Yeah yeah, I guess now I have to wait for a big male to show up after I've had to deal with this heat," said Mazi. He had to make a big deal about being too hot to fight, just like Mazi.

"Well if you listened to me maybe you wouldn't have that problem," said Kijani with a growl.

Mazi only snorted and limped away with Kifaa who gave a quick nod goodbye before following him to the waterhole. Conga then landed on Kijani shoulder and gave him a big hug.

"Kijani I can't believe you came back, I thought you never would," said Conga.

"Heh I'll never forget my family, I know they miss me," said Kijani with a smile.

"Yeah I bet it's been boring since we left," said Hondo with a wag of his tail.

"Well we certainly haven't had any wars since you were gone," said Conga.

"Well that's good, and it sounds like mom and dad are still leading around here," said Kijani.

"Yup, then once the rains leave and the dry season begins again then your brother and his wife will take over," said Conga.

"Haidar fell in love? I never imagined," said Kijani with excitement and a slight giggle.

"And a kid too, he was born a few months ago," said Conga.

"How wonderful, he will be perfect for my new role," said Kijani.

"New role?" asked Conga a little confused.

"He will explain when he gets there, you won't believe what happened about two years ago when we were traveling," said Hondo.

"Well if it involves young ones with safety then you have three more to contend with," said Conga.

"Oh boy lots of questions then," said Kijani.

Conga arched her eyebrows like a quizzical youngster; Kijani sure seemed to have something up his sleeves. Hopefully it was nothing like his rowdy days as an adolescent.

"And I know what you are thinking Conga and don't worry its nothing terrible," said Kijani.

"Well that's good to know but of course something you didn't think was terrible actually was terrible," said Conga.

"Oh I've matured I'm not like that any more," said Kijani.

"Yeah I'm usually the one starting the games," said Hondo.

Conga stared at them for a moment; they did seem to be telling the truth. She guessed that she was just worried about past experiences that she would rather forget.

"But enough about us, how about you Conga, still with Kairu?" asked Kijani.

"Yes we are, he usually helps me patrol but he also has this thing he does with Mahiri now where they sing with other birds. It's really quite silly but it keeps the other birds busy," said Conga.

"Any kids yet?" asked Hondo.

Conga looked at him with a sheepish grin. "Heh Heh, sadly not, Kairu doesn't have that ability, and Jabir proved that. Luckily my brother Dinari fell in love and had a few kids, so far though they haven't shown any interest in the family business but he did get a new brood a few days ago so we'll see how that goes," she said.

"Sorry to hear that, what about grandma and grandpa?" asked Kijani obviously asking about Simba and Nala.

"Grandpa Simba is still alive and feisty as ever though we did loose Grandma Nala during the last rainy season. She went out to hunt during some very heavy rain and got sick; Jabir tried everything to help her but the great kings and queens called her. Simba was quite sad for many months, he tries to hide his sadness these days but we can still tell he misses her," said Conga with an air of sadness in her voice. It truly was a sad day; the rains had not ended yet when Nala became the grass so it felt that the kings were weeping for everyone, especially Simba. Simba gave the loveliest eulogy and ended up spending the rest of the evening with Jabir who gave him special medicines to help him sleep and not be as sad. It didn't seem to help much though.

Kijani lowered his head, grandma Nala was always so compassionate and kind, it was hard to imagine that she was no longer among the pride, well at least physically. No doubt left her presence known in the wind like many other lions of the past.

"What about Safiya and Hawla," he asked as he gave a longing look when he mentioned Hawla.

"Safiya is all grown up now, still curious as ever though, and Hawla well she is lead huntress of the Misty Pride and a very good one at that," said Conga.

"Is she queen?" asked Kijani.

"No but Itimu had a son who took over about a year and a half ago and so far he's done a great job. Itimu is still around he just retired," said Conga.

Kijani gave a longing sigh; Conga could tell he wanted to see her after all these years. Perhaps later when introductions were made once again. At the moment though they were reaching Pride Rock, and to Kijani it looked bigger than he remembered. For a moment all three gazed toward the promontory, to Conga it was just a home she had seen every day for many years but to Kijani it was a place where either he would be welcomed back or scorned for leaving and being known as the less mature twin. To Hondo it was a nice hangout and where many members often found it strange for a lion to be friends with a wild dog. But nature had its ways.

Conga flew ahead, ready to inform the pride of an old member returning. Kijani not too far behind, trotting forward like a show dog hoping to receive a blue ribbon for outstanding breed; or at least be considered decent enough.

It didn't take long for Conga to enter the mouth of the cave where the pride was now cooling off from the day's heat. Kiara and Kovu were in the back discussing plans for the days ahead with the rest of the pride, while the four cubs were near the entrance happily playing.

Conga made her presence known by flapping her wings against the ground causing the cubs to look up from what they were doing and for Kiara to stop in mid sentence.

"Yay Conga's home!" said Asha the leader of the triplets as she bounded forward ready to pounce like she always did when Conga returned from duties.

Conga was in no mood at the moment though and hovered above them with a small grin. Conga rarely ever did that but it made Kiara move forward with worry.

"Is something wrong Conga?" she asked. Kiara no longer looked as young as she once did, her orange fur had now faded a little and her eyes seemed deep and tired like she had been leading for too long. Kovu had even said this, of course Kiara was not too pleased with him, but she knew that they had been ruling for many years now and retiring sounded nice.

"Oh no your majesty, just an old family member returning to see you," said Conga.

"An old family member?" asked Kovu with a questioning look.

Wasting no time Conga began the introductions. "May I present, Prince Kijani and Master Hondo."

Everyone looked up as two familiar, yet older faces, entered the cave. Kijani stopped halfway and looked nervously at his old pride who was now staring at him with astonishment; no one said anything until Kiara moved forward and stared hard into Kijani's soft green eyes that seemed to tell he wanted a second chance. Then she moved down to the face where his old scars stood, not as prominent as when he first got them but they were there clear as day.

"Jani, it's been a long time my son," said Kiara who then began to nuzzle him.

Kijani returned the gesture and looked over at Kovu who was now smiling; the first time he had seen his father do so in a long time.

"I've missed you my son," said Kovu.

"And I you," said Kijani with a nod.

"Brother, you must tell us where you have been," said Haidar as he moved forward with his mate Azmera in tow.

Haidar now had a full mane like his brother, only more clean. He looked quite strong, as if he could take on any challengers that could threaten the pride. He was perfect for the role of king. Azmera was a lovely lioness, light brown with cream colored underbelly. Her face showed great responsibility and love to her mate and pride she had come to know. She seemed like the perfect love for Haidar.

"Oh I've been around, for the first three years though all I did was wander with Hondo, searching for adventure and learning new things," said Kijani.

"And did the adventures change you?" asked Simba. For the first time Kijani saw his grandfather, older than before, his mane no longer holding that handsome luster, some parts of it had grayed and his face looked wrinkled and tired, yet he seemed willing to listen to Kijani explain what had been going on.

"No, in fact I was actually thinking of heading home one day with Hondo, nothing had been happening and we both felt that wandering wasn't our style any more. That was when we both ran into a very old lion named Rasul. He was no longer the hunter he once was and the ribs on his side proved it, as an act of kindness Hondo and I went out hunted for him. That night he asked me how I received my scars, I told him and for the longest time he only stared at me before finally responding by telling me he had been searching for the "scarred warrior" to take his place. I asked him what I would take over and he said I would become a storyteller to any one I had met. And so for two years I spent his last days with him, hearing stories that had been passed down to him through generations of other lions until all of them were told. He died only a week after he told them all to me. For two more years I traveled with Hondo running into other creatures who somehow knew I could tell a story to them. Many were quite awed by my unique gift and others would not stop asking me questions, some even left me stumped. But in all that time, I never forgot you guys and when I finally saw the pride lands again I could not wait to tell you all my tales to share during the long evenings or during heavy rains."

Everyone stared at Kijani, surprised by what they had found out who he now was. No one spoke and at first Kijani thought he was to be cast out of the pride for even returning to claim who he was, until Jelani moved forward.

He was a little darker than his father with black paws, to many he looked like he would become the next Scar but as Haidar and Azmera knew he did not have a heart like that, but one filled with affection and love.

"I want to know how stories were created," he said with a curious voice.

Kijani smiled, this was the answer he was waiting for.

"All in good time my son, but first I believe a hunt is in order," said Haidar.

Haidar turned to Kiara and Kovu. Both smiling with pride, their son was home and the cubs had someone to talk to. A celebration hunt was definitely in order.

* * *

A/N: And that's my chapter for now, yeah it sucked I know but I'll make up for that with the stories Kijani tells. Also I will probably only update this story twice a month since I have school, I like to draw Simpson's, and I'm working on another story called Blaze, the first ten chapters are over at Deviant Art so if you want to read it, feel free to come on over. And like I said before, if you have any ideas for short stories feel free to share them with me, I will give you credit as the one that helped me out and stuff. Also if I you find me suddenly writing a different story on this site, don't worry I just had a new idea that I wanted to do, I did not abandon the story. Also I have no idea how many chapters I will end up with, so this might take a while. And here are the meanings in the characters names including the ones you have met before, in case you forgot. 

Kijani: Warrior

Haidar: Strong and stout (actually pronounced HAH-ee-dah, I didn't realize that until searching for names for this story)

Jabir: Restorer

Safiya: Pure

Hawla: Graceful Antelope

Itimu: spear

Azmera: Harvest (named after one of the giraffes I work with, the 36th and last to be sired by Laikipia who died on June 20th of last year. Azmera was born July 24th, she is such a cutie)

Jelani: Mighty One

Uzuri: Beauty  
Asha: Life

Kali: Energetic

Naima: Graceful

Kifaa: Useful

Mazi: Sir

Rasul: Messenger

Well see you all around and don't forget to review.


	2. How stories came to be

It was not until the next evening that Kijani was able to tell the cubs the first story. After a quick hunt and a nice meal, Kijani was exhausted, he still wanted to tell a story but the cubs ended up falling asleep before Kijani even finished his meal. Kijani hoped that tomorrow would be a good day.

Of course the cubs were early risers and Kali was the first to awaken him by pouncing on his back. Kijani woke with a start, for a moment he had forgotten where he was until he saw three cubs staring at him and smiling while Kali began to chase his tail.

"You promised us a story last night," said Jelani looking like any cub who wanted there way.

"Well you all fell asleep before I could tell you one, and it wouldn't work very well if I told it while you four were asleep," said Kijani.

"You could have woken us up" said Uzuri with a wave of her tail.

Kijani only smiled knowing full well how cubs would often whine when someone in the family tried to wake them too early.

"Besides, I still need to know you kids names before I can even tell a story," said Kijani. Haidar had not even told him and neither did the rest of the pride.

"Oh well I'm Jelani your nephew, Dad's told me all about you," said Jelani.

"And as well he should have, family is very important you know," said Kijani.

"I'm Uzuri, but everyone calls me Zuri because the U just takes too much time saying," said Uzuri in a matter of fact voice.

"I'm Asha," said Asha unsure how to introduce herself further.

"And I'm Kali, sometimes I'm the leader of the group and sometimes Asha is, Zuri and Jelani just like following us," said Kali.

Zuri and Jelani just grinned; both knew it was true so there was no need to argue about that. Kijani decided to study the triplets for a moment, hoping to get a good idea of how each one might be different and it didn't take him long to figure out. All three had a light yellowish brown to them, like the sands of the Namib Desert by the sea, where he had traveled before. And each one had a white colored belly and paws but each one still showed different markings.

Zuri's white colored stomach stopped between her front legs and just above that on her chest was a cream colored diamond shaped spot that was quite clear and easy to distinguish. Asha's white colored stomach was the same as Zuri's only the spot on her chest looked like the letter V pointing downward. It was smaller than Zuri's spot so Kijani knew he would not get too confused. Now Kali was very different from the two. Her white colored belly actually went all the way up to her chin and the white color on her paws actually went farther up on her legs, making it look like she was wearing socks. So she was definitely recognizable.

"Well that's good to know then, and then when one of you gets into trouble we won't have a hard time figuring out who the ring leader was," said Kijani with a grin.

Kali and Asha both grinned sheepishly, Kijani sure was sneaky, but they trusted him. He would probably tell their parents that they were only playing and being the cubs they were, just like Kijani was when he was a cub, something they knew very well about from Safiya and Conga.

"But what about the story you promised us?" asked Jelani as he pounced upon Kijani hoping to change the subject, he obviously had been waiting to hear a story for a very long time.

"Oh deary me is that why I was woken up so early today, I thought I was just passing through," said Kijani with a smirk.

"You better not be leaving us, you said you had many stories to tell us and we are not letting you leave until you tell us as many as you can," said Kali in a matter of fact voice.

Kijani gave a big laugh. "Oh my you must be terrifying if someone runs away from you but yes I will tell you my first story, if I remember correctly it was Jelani who asked for the first one, what was it again?"

"How did stories come to be," said Jelani excitedly.

"Oh yes, there are actually five of those, only one of those is actually interesting to tell though," said Kijani.

The cubs stared at the storyteller with wide eyes waiting for the first word to come out of his mouth. Kijani took his time though; he liked creating suspense for the ones who were listening until at least one of them finally broke down and yelled and it was Zuri who did that.

"So what happened?" she asked in a frustrated tone.

"Okay, now that you are ready, here is the tale," began Kijani while at the same time trying his hardest not to laugh.

* * *

Now many of you I know believe that the first tale probably began with the first creature to walk the earth those millions of years ago. But of course, you don't know the truth behind that, for you see, the first creature did walk the earth millions of years ago but he didn't come up with a story until one thousand years after they arrived.

For you see the first thousand years were very boring. Everyone did the same old thing every day. They would wake up, hunt, wander around for a few hours running into the same creatures they would see every day, and then go home and go to bed. They would talk of course but it was the same thing of "hi how are you doing" and "oh same old same old" and "What about you" and of course "ditto."

Even giving life was boring. The males would ask the females if they were ready for a child and if they said no then they would wait another day, if they said yes well lets just say the whole process lasted less than ten minutes and the two lovers were asleep in twenty. The lion would tell the others that his mate was pregnant and everyone would congratulate her for a few minutes before getting bored and going about their usual business.

Child bearing was the same too, the child would easily enter the world and no problems would come of the child. It would suckle for a few weeks, play for a few months and then become the adult he was supposed to be and follow in his parent's extremely boring pawprints.

Death was predictable, the creature would become ill or slow down with age and as they walked around and did there thing, they would just drop and they would be left there to become the grass which is also where that saying came from.

But as a thousand years went by, some became quite bored by their daily routine, they would complain a little but they wouldn't stop, not until Asad came on the scene.

Now Asad was a young lion when the first story came about and he was the one who first made up a story. He was doing the same playful routine that he always did and then realized that it was just way too boring and without another word, decided to go explore the jungle that was a few miles away and that no one dared to go into because they liked their very boring life.

At first Asad was very nervous about entering this strange place because of what might happen but knew that now he had at least done something in his life that was fascinating. He made his way through the jungle; there were fascinating plant life, really colorful bugs, and strange noises he had never heard before all because his pride and every other creature in existence was very boring.

He finally came to a very large temple, something he had never imagined seeing in his very slow and boring days. He stared at it in awe for a very long time, unsure of what the strange temple might do to him, but it stayed put and finally he decided that it was just as boring as he was. So he entered.

But before Asad could even go through the door, a strange creature on two legs appeared. Well he stood on two legs but when he walked he walked on all fours and his face was very colorful, and he had a very small tail.

"What are you?" Asad asked.

"What am I, why I'm a monkey of course, what about you?" asked the creature.

"I am Asad, from the plains, I got bored and decided to explore, said Asad.

As if the word explore was the cue, the monkey jumped up and whooped and hollered for a good five minutes causing Asad to step back nervously and wonder what this strange monkey was doing. Finally the monkey was quiet and looked at Asad with a big grin.

"I have been waiting for one thousand years for someone to say that, and now the prophecy has finally come true," said the monkey.

"What's a prophecy?" asked Asad for this was also the first prophecy to ever be performed in one thousand years.

"A prophecy is a prediction that will come true, sometimes it will happen within the hour it is uttered, sometimes it doesn't happen for many years. It just depends on how big it is," said the monkey.

"So what is the prediction?" asked Asad.

"The prediction is, that the world will finally have something happening to it every day and not go about the same boring routine," said the monkey.

"Just because I decided to explore?" asked Asad.

The monkey nodded and with a wave with his magic cane which was almost like the one Jabir has now, he produced a small stone that he put on Asad's paw.

Asad looked down at the stone and saw the many colors that sparkled upon it. It was a perfectly rounded shape, not a scratch on it.

"Now when you go home, I want you to not say a word to your parents about where you have been, even if they demand to be answered, don't answer them. Take the stone and throw it off the highest point of your den, you will not see it land but you will a big change in the creatures around you immediately afterward," said the monkey.

Asad nodded and ran as fast as he could out of the jungle to try out his new prize and see if the first prophecy would actually come true.

Like the monkey had told him, his mother and father began asking questions of where he had been but Asad would not answer and went to the highest point of his den. When he arrived, he studied the spot for a moment before finally throwing the stone as hard as he could. He watched it fly for a moment before it disappeared from view, never to be seen again.

Asad walked down from the highest point of the den and saw both his parents waiting for him. They both looked angry yet very relived at the same time.

"I was just fixing a few things," said Asad.

"Well don't scare us like that again," said his father in a gruff voice.

"Yes sir, but if you want to know where I was, I went to the jungle," said Asad in a matter of fact tone.

His parents looked at him with wide eyes, no one they knew had ever gone to the jungle, but of course that was because everyone they knew was extremely boring.

"Was it scary in there?" asked his mother still looking quite nervous of almost loosing a son for the first time.

"At first it was but then I got used to it," said Asad.

"Did you meet any one?" asked his father.

"I met a monkey," said Asad.

"Was he scary looking?" asked his father.

And so Asad answered his parents questions long into the night, telling them of his little short adventure of seeing the monkey and the temple and how prophecy's can come true. And by the next day, life was no longer boring. Animals started doing other things, lion's started hunting new game, crocodiles now found something more delicious than fish as the wildebeests finally decided to cross the river after they realized that their herd was getting way too big for one small area. Meerkat's were setting up sentries because hawks found something more yummy than berries, and of course zebra's began to wonder if they were black with white stripes or if they were white with black stripes, a question that now haunts them to the end of time.

And it was all thanks to Asad, the young lion who wanted to do something different.

* * *

"And that's the first story," Kijani said as he finished the tale.

The cubs stared at the story teller with great awe, amazed that the first tale was how things were no longer boring all thanks to a lion a creature that they were.

"So a lion actually found a story," said Asha.

"Yup and that's why I thought it was better than the other four, one of them tells of how a crocodile just started telling everyone fibs, I just thought it wasn't as interesting, well to me any way," said Kijani.

"Can you tell us another story now?" asked Jelani.

"Hmmm how about later, right now I want to visit the water hole and talk to pride members for a bit, plus I would rather have you all think of a story you would like to hear rather than have me come up with one," said Kijani.

The cubs all nodded and ran outside to meet up with Naima who was now coming home to give the triplets some milk. And as they ate, they all thought up of stories that Kijani might tell them as time went on.

* * *

A/N: And there is the first story for you, short I know but some will be like that, some will be longer I hope, so I hope you all enjoyed that.

Asad simply means "Lion."

I hope to see you all later, I'll probably update in about two weeks or so, just depends on how busy I get. See you all around.


	3. The Greyhound and the Cheetah

**NOODLE BALLS!!!!!!!!!**

Now that I got your attention, vote Ralph Wiggum, his cat's breath smells like cat food. Plus he needs someone to fix his bent wookie. Yes I am in a very weird mood thanks for asking.

* * *

The day was now coming to a close and most of the pride was lying down in the coolness of the cave, away from the hot sun. It was another day of no rain, yet Simba could still sense that a change was coming soon. 

Kijani had spent the day wandering around his old home, looking for familiar faces and finding his old hiding grounds that he and Hondo liked to play in. Hondo had also spent his day finding his old pack, his father had long since retired from leadership duties and it was his brother who was the leader of the pack. His pack had actually grown since he had left too, before he had left, his family was sixteen strong, now it had grown to twenty-two individuals. Hondo felt proud that his family was still very healthy, but he was still closer to Kijani and would rather spend his time with his best friend.

The cubs had not returned yet from their day of play so Kijani just relaxed with Hondo as he conversed with his sister Safiya who had now grown into quite a lovely young lioness. She still looked the same as she had been when she was a cub, but now she was bigger and stronger, and as Kijani had seen, was a very skillful hunter.

They were just finishing their talk about a pride Kijani had run into once when the cubs suddenly ran in, all four running full force into Kijani who nearly had the wind knocked out of him.

"We have a question for youuuuuu," sang Asha as she rolled off his back.

"Well it's going to have to wait a minute, I'm still telling Safiya about a pack I knew," said Kijani.

All four cubs lowered their heads, they had been running for quite sometime and now they had to wait to ask.

"All that running for nothing, and in the hot sun too," said Zuri with a growl.

"Yeah now the fur between my leg and side is all wet and smelly," said Kali as she lifted her leg up and accidentally took a whiff. She made a grossed out face as her fur stood on end.

"Oh Kijani tell the story, I can wait to hear the rest later, they go to bed before us any way and I haven't heard a story from you either," said Safiya.

Kijani looked at Safiya and then at the cubs, all of them were making puppy dog eyes even his sister. Kijani rolled his eyes; it seemed he had become more mature than his sister.

"Alright what's the question?" asked Kijani.

"We have a cheetah friend and he always likes to play tag and race with us but because he is so fast we can never win with him around and so while we were taking a break we had an argument about how no one can out run a cheetah, is this true or is he pulling our leg?" asked Jelani.

Kijani sat for a moment, going through the library in his head, trying to remember if he had a story about cheetahs. Luckily he did remember one, and it was actually one of Hondo's favorites.

"Well there is a story about a cheetah racing a greyhound," said Kijani.

"A greyhound? What's that?" asked Asha.

"Well it's kind of like what Hondo is, only less furry, has floppy ears and is just as skinny as the cheetah but no spots," said Kijani.

"Did he race a cheetah and win?" asked Jelani.

"Well you're going to have to listen to the story now aren't ya," said Kijani with his paws on his chin and a big grin on his face.

The cubs all stared at him but knew better than asking any more questions. They then lay down next to Safiya and listened as the tale began.

* * *

Everyone regarded the Pharaoh as one of the most daring out of any Pharaoh that ever ruled. He was a gambling man, always trying to get more for his kingdom than any one would ever dare try. Luckily for him, he rarely lost and when he did he would usually try to gamble for it again until he did win. Many of his servants feared that one day he would gamble his whole kingdom away and leave with nothing but the Pharaoh believed that that was impossible. 

Because he was such a gambler, he even had a racetrack built outside the palace. Whenever he wanted a cheep thrill or wanted to bet on something, he would just call his servants to send out his best greyhound to run with another greyhound. Victory was always his.

The greyhounds name was Jima and had been given to the Pharaoh as a gift from the land of Ethiopia when he was just a tiny puppy. It was more of a peace offering really, after a terrible gamble where the Pharaoh accused the King of Ethiopia that his servant was cheating. He had gouged out the servants eyes because of his insolence and banned the king from ever returning. But the king still wanted to make amends, so as a peace offering he sent the Pharaoh the greyhound puppy from one of his best running greyhounds, one that had never failed him.

At first the Pharaoh was reluctant and believed that the king had tricked him into thinking he was a great runner and quickly gave Jima a test. He made him run after a rabbit on the racetrack and timed him to see how fast he was. Of course when Jima saw the rabbit he thought it was something to play with and ran as fast as he could after it as it raced around the track. By the time it was over, Pharaoh was so surprised by how well Jima did that he made him his official racing greyhound when he became a year old.

Peace of course was made with Ethiopia as well and both kingdoms were once again playing random bets over strange problems and ideas.

For many years Jima was the Pharaohs prized pet and always treated him like royalty, even above the queen's cats who were just as important. Jima really did not care if he was prized or not though, he just liked to run and would often try different places to run around the kingdom. Sometimes he did it by himself, other times he would race with the other greyhounds and even the cats. Even though he still was the fastest out of all of them, he would still let them win every now and again for a change of pace.

Through the years Jima lost only seven races, but those races were usually played again since the Pharaoh hated to loose and always demanded a rematch. Jima hated those because usually one of the servants would find a way to slow down his competitor just so he would win.

But sometimes, Jima just liked the simple life of lying out on the veranda with his friends, one was an older greyhound named Sudi, before Jima came along he was the Pharaohs favorite and for a while both hated each other with a passion, they would not go near each other because Sudi believed that fighting was not the answer. They would only argue from far away which was really quite silly to listen to. But after a while Sudi learned that change can happen and that he was still loved by his master who still gave Sudi and Jima equal portions of food.

There was also Emu and Panya two of the queens royal cats who enjoyed watching the greyhounds run around in the hot dust. They would never try it themselves because they always wanted to keep their coats glossy in case the queen walked by to pick them up and stroke them lovingly while they purred in her arms.

Now it was one afternoon in Jima's fifth year that something new came to the kingdom. All four were lying down quietly on the veranda when they heard an angry growl. All four looked up causing Emu to get up and investigate.

"What is it Emu?" asked Jima, ears facing forward.

"It's a tribe I have never seen before, and they have a strange cat in a cage, and it's just as skinny as you are," said Emu.

This caused both Jima and Sudi to jump up and investigate the skinny cat, they followed the humans from a safe distance, they knew it would be for the Pharaoh but what they would use it for, they did not know.

They hid behind a statue of Ra when the Pharaoh appeared behind some curtains and walked forward; he looked very curious yet held his spear in his hands to be safe.

"Why have you come here?" asked the Pharaoh nervously. Jima and Sudi could sense that this was an old foe of his.

"The king in the far southern regions has died and his son has taken his place, and so as an offering of peace we give to you this cheetah and this snake," said one of the men.

The Pharaoh looked down at the cheetah who let out a loud hiss and brought out his claws. The Pharaoh smiled. "Ah a cat to run my racetrack for me, though I don't think my greyhounds would be safe around him."

"Actually sire, we use our cheetahs to chase antelope and other game for long distances to see how fast they can catch them," said another man.

"Ah now that sounds like a very fun game, let me see the snake," said the Pharaoh.

Carefully the men opened up the basket to reveal a very angry snake coiled up in the basket, it was poisonous but with great care Pharaoh could carry it around like a worm.

"Very nice, I accept your gifts, and tell your king that I am honored to have your friendship back, just as long as we never start another war," said Pharaoh.

The men all nodded while Pharaoh called his servants to take the cheetah and the snake into a special chamber. Jima and Sudi both looked at each other before both deciding to get a better look at the new pet. First they had to tell Emu and Panya about it. Since all cats must know what is going on.

They soon came to the pets chambers where, they usually slept at night. There were horses in there too and a family of spider monkeys that the Pharaoh had personally caught himself on a trip to the south. Carefully Jima made his way to the cage where the cheetah was pacing around in looking very angry indeed.

"Hello there," said Jima with a friendly voice.

The cheetah growled and jumped forward only to be blocked by the cage.

"If this cage was not here, I would eat you," said the cheetah.

"Oh come now, I bet you could not even catch me, I could run faster than anyone here. But you would still miss these three too," said Jima with a smirk. Even though he was a humble greyhound, he still liked to test his enemies every now and again, especially ones who seemed to think better of themselves.

The cheetah stared at Jima for a moment before letting out a big and menacing laugh. "You think you are faster than me, ha I have raced dogs like you before and every single one of them were so far behind that I took a nap in the shade before they reached me, for I, Shombay, am a cheetah the fastest animal around," said the cheetah.

Jima was about to say something when Panya gave one of her annoying laughs that even made the queen cringe. For she had a very high voice and when it was combined with glee, well lets just say that even glass in the room cringed with annoyance.

"Ha you say you are the fastest animal around yet your name means differently, 'walks like a lion' ha. I will only believe that you are fast if you run like one first," said Panya, she was always a great insulter.

"Hmmm, you have spirit for one as small as you, isn't it true that your name means 'mouse? Mice are cowards and hide at every chance they get, I bet if I escaped right now, you would run and hide as fast as you could," said Shombay.

"And I bet that nose of yours would lead you to a real mouse," said Panya.

Shombay only smirked; he liked arguing with those smaller than him and especially ones who believed they could outrun him.

"Still I would like to see him run," said Sudi.

"Yeah, a race sounds like a fun thing to do with him," said Jima.

"Hmm that does sound fun, though we do need to have prizes for the end," said Shombay as he brought out his claws and showed how sharp they were.

"Hmmm prizes, what would be good prizes?" asked Jima as he looked over at Sudi.

"How about if we win, you will never boast again saying that you are the fastest and if you do so then may your children be cursed for being too slow," said Sudi.

"Hmm sounds fair, and if I win, I believe I should have my share of Panya there," said Shombay.

Panya gasped. "You mean eat me?"

"Ha Ha no, you look too tough and gamey, I mean I get to rule over you, you shall do my bidding and as for Jima I say he should be humiliated in front of the Pharaoh," said Shombay.

"Then that means if I win, you also have to humiliate yourself in front of the Pharaoh," said Jima.

"Very well then, when do you want to start this race?" asked Shombay.

"Tomorrow morning just as the sun rises, the spider monkeys are very good at handling locks so they can let you out," said Jima.

Shombay smiled, this was truly going to be a fascinating day indeed. Jima and his friends all turned away from Shombay, each looking at each other with worried eyes. They all knew that things could change tomorrow.

They met out on the veranda, just as the sun was coming up. Shombay slinked his way over to the group with tremendous satisfaction in his face. But he wasn't the only one there; the snake had also joined them making both Emu and Panya nervous. Snakes were the cat's natural enemies and both knew they could do two things to them, either squeeze or bite and both had seen it happen.

"Why did you bring the snake with you?" asked Panya, her high voice sounding slightly higher from nervousness.

"Well I need someone to route for me, having no one on my side is really boring," said Shombay.

All four looked down at the snake who only hissed at them to show that he meant business and all four knew they needed to have another rule to this game.

"Alright, if he is here then a new rule has formed, he may not bite anyone, if he does I will call the Pharaohs hawk after him and believe me, Jafari does not give anyone a quick and painless death," said Jima.

Shombay stared at the snake who only nodded as he flicked out his tongue.

"Very well, he will keep his mouth closed," he said.

"Good now here is how the race will go, we will start here, run all the way to the third pyramid over there, go around it and then return at this spot here, whoever gets here first is the winner," said Jima.

"Very good," said Shombay. He was in no mood now to talk; he just wanted to get the race over with so he could feel victory.

So Jima set himself into position while a few feet away, Shombay did so as well while Sudi started the game.

"Now when I say ready you both run, no one go until I say so otherwise we will say you cheated and will not consider you a winner," said Sudi he had a habit of talking a little too long and it made Shombay growl at him. Sudi knew he had to get on with it. "And……..ready!"

In the blink of an eye, both dog and cat ran as fast as they could through the cool morning sand toward the third pyramid about a mile away. Both were going at a steady pace and both were neck and neck. Jima was used to this for he did it every morning with Sudi; usually he would do about three laps before quitting while Sudi, in his old age, would only do a lap and a half before finally quitting from exhaustion. Shombay was enjoying his run, he had been wild caught and for several weeks now, he had spent his days in the cage pacing back and forth in anger, and now that he was out he could finally live again.

The dog and cat finally reached the third pyramid and both slid into the sand as they rounded the turn. Jima was used to this and regained his footing easily while Shombay took some time trying to negotiate with his paws until he finally found a good footing and caught up with Jima just as he left the pyramid.

Both began to run as fast as they could now, now that half the race was over and either one could be the victor. Jima's tongue was now hanging out while Shombay was breathing heavily; he had no idea if it was from excitement or exhaustion.

Shombay soon found out though when his legs buckled causing him to fall forward a little, he tried to regain his footing but his back leg fell back into the sand. He tried to lift it but only slowly since his foot was now sore and worn out.

He did finally regain it after a moment though and tried to run again but this time it came out as only a jog and he quickly realized why. It was something his mother had taught him as a cub that he often ignored. "Cheetahs are built for speed but only at short distances, you must wait for a good opportunity to catch your prey."

Shombay growled under his breath, knowing that he was now a foolish cheetah into thinking that he could beat a skinny greyhound. Maybe at a short distance on the racetrack but not out here. He could now hear Jima reach the finish line as his friends yowled with delight and now knew that he had to walk up and congratulate him because even a looser must show respect for a winner no matter how much they hate each other.

Shombay reached the four friends, his head held low while his face showed that he had been a foolish cheetah to be so proud of his species.

"Nice run," said Shombay.

"Yeah it was a good one," said Jima.

"I forgot that cheetahs don't run very long distances," said Shombay sheepishly.

"I knew that, I just wanted to see it for myself," said Sudi who had actually raced several cheetahs in his youth on the racetrack which was a much shorter distance than the one he had just taken, Sudi had lost a few times against the cheetahs but he didn't mind. Of course during the last race the cheetah did cheat by attacking him.

Shombay only glared at Sudi, older dogs were so ornery. But of course he knew some cheetahs like that too.

"How about this, not today seeing as how I can smell the Pharaoh coming to get you back in your cage, but how about some day we race together on the track and I will let you win," said Jima.

Shombay perked up his ears and smiled. "I would like that, are we still going to try to humiliate each other though?" he asked.

"Nah, that race I took with you was fun, we can be fun enemies," said Jima.

Shombay smiled before wincing from a sudden jab on his hindquarters. One of the servants had shot him with a dart to make him calmer so they could put him back into his cage without any trouble. Jima backed off while Shombay growled at the humans and tried to swipe at them with his claws. Of course after a few moments, they felt way too heavy and decided it was best to lie down.

After a few moments, Jima and his friends watched as Shombay was taken back to the stables. They all hoped that Shombay would be a great adversary in the years to come. For now though all Jima wanted to do was relax on the veranda and enjoy the day with his best friends.

* * *

Kijani finished the story and looked down at the four cubs, whose eyes were now slowly drooping but still happy to hear the story all the same. 

"So as you can see, you can race a cheetah, but only if you want to do a long distance race with him," said Kijani.

"So if I asked him to race from Pride Rock to the water hole, you think he would slow down before we got there?" asked Jelani with a yawn.

"Perhaps but you have to find out for yourself," said Kijani.

All the cubs nodded, none of them felt like asking questions now. They had a long hot day and were very willing to fall asleep next to their parents. Kijani could tell this and began to scoot them over toward the pride who was conversing with each other. They had not listened to a story yet mainly because they didn't have a question that they wanted to ask yet.

The cubs went straight over to their mothers and cuddled closely for warmth. Kijani watched with a smile before moving over to a nearby wall where Hondo was sleeping. He knew that tomorrow would be another day for stories and he could not wait to tell them more.

* * *

A/N: Yeah probably a sappy ending but I had no idea how to end that, oh well. Hope you all enjoyed that one. It didn't end up the way I planned but it was still fun to write any way. Also I might not update again until the end of February/early March. I am moving with my mom to a townhouse on the 25th and I have two papers to write this month for my Civil War class so you are going to have to wait for the next one for a bit. But if you are wondering what the next story will be about, just check my profile and I have it written down for you guys to check. Oh and name meanings 

Shombay: Walks like a lion

Jima is just listed as an Ethopian name so I guess it has no meaning

Sudi: Lucky

Emu: Cat

Panya: Mouse

Yeah I was being silly there so I couldn't resist.

So yeah have a nice month and if anyone goes greyhound racing, route for Santa's Little Helper, yes he is slow but he's so cute.


	4. The Prodigal Meerkat

Kijani awoke the next morning to find the cave of Pride Rock deserted. For a moment, he thought he was somewhere else entirely until he smelled the familiar scents of his old pride wafting in still darkness. Surprised that the cubs did not wake him, Kijani got up and stretched before heading outside to see where everyone was.

He reached the edge of the rock and looked around; he soon found most of the lionesses and Simba grooming each other near a shady tree, the cubs were nearby playing happily. Kijani smiled and looked around for any sign of his mother, father, and even Haidar. They probably went off to do some business with their territory.

Kijani was just about to climb down the rock and join the pride when he noticed a small dot at the very top of Pride Rock where most kings and queens stood when talking to their cubs about ruling the Pride Lands or if they also wanted to survey their lands. Kijani decided to see who it was and slowly climbed up the rock.

When he arrived, he found that his father Kovu was sitting at the edge staring out into the distant lands. The old king did not move a muscle, only his mane swayed in the gentle breeze.

"Sleep well son?" Kovu asked without turning.

"Yes sir, but why did you not wake me?" asked Kijani.

"Your mother and I felt you needed some extra sleep this morning since you did have a long journey and was given an early wake up call yesterday," said Kovu who motioned for Kijani to sit next to him.

"You didn't have to do that, I felt a little foolish waking up like that, now I probably missed some important things," said Kijani.

"Don't worry you haven't, I just sent Conga on an errand to check out the approaching storm that might be heading our way," said Kovu as he pointed his nose at a very large rain cloud many miles away. It looked like it was dumping heavy rain in that area and it seemed to show no signs of stopping.

"So it's finally coming," said Kijani with a sigh, rain was his favorite; he liked to play in it with Hondo on really lazy days.

Kovu only nodded and remained silent for a few moments. Kijani stared at the father he had not seen in years, his mane was still full but it was showing some tinge of grey and his coat seemed to have lost most of its luster. His eyes looked tired and forlorn, almost wrinkly, yet somehow he was still as strong as ever.

"So where is Mom and Haidar?" asked Kijani.

"Your mother thought it would be nice to take Haidar to the outskirts to speak with the hyenas and see if there are any problems, they should be back later this evening," said Kovu.

"That's good," said Kijani as he looked down the Pride lands with his father.

"You know I did miss you," said Kovu turning to his son.

"Yeah, but I'm glad you told me I would leave because then there would never be any more stories to tell," said Kijani with a sigh.

"Heh, I didn't imagine my warrior to become a nomad but still I was worried about you for a long time, I had hoped you would at least find some messenger birds to tell me where you are," said Kovu.

"I tried once but they wanted some strange human fabric in return and I was not about to endanger myself with a human," said Kijani.

"Smart move," said Kovu.

Kijani nodded remembering that day, it had been two years after he had left and he and Hondo felt that the Pride Land needed to know about their situation. Hondo found the group and asked them to find the Pride Lands but the birds in return wanted a strange fabric from the local human village called cotton. Kijani did not want to risk his life or a human's for that matter just to get a small piece of it. The birds called them cowards and taunted them for a few days before Kijani got so frustrated and angry that he leapt into the air and ate one of them. The birds went silent after that.

"You know, I haven't heard a story from you yet," said Kovu.

"Well I've only told two to the cubs, so far I have many more to tell them," said Kijani.

"Are there any stories that older lions can hear?" asked Kovu with a curious face.

"Sort of, but most of them are more cub appropriate, but I can still tell you one if you want to hear it," said Kijani.

"Of course, one just for me that you think I would like," said Kovu with a heartwarming smile. It was enough to show that he really did care.

Kijani thought for a moment, sifting through his memory of stories his father might like to hear. He finally remembered a story that was a lot like his life, only different and with a different species.

"How about The Prodigal Meerkat?" asked Kijani.

"Sounds like something about Timon," said Kovu remember Simba's old friend.

"Oh it's definitely not about him, this meerkat was more troublesome, kind of like how I was, only he rarely learned from his mistakes," said Kijani.

Kovu chuckled a little. "Alright you got me interested; I would love to hear it."

* * *

To a lion, calling a meerkat strong is like saying you are a coward, for even the weakest lion can kill the strongest meerkat if they wanted to. But of course to a meerkat, calling a member of their clan strong was because they were tougher than any meerkat they had ever seen, and could chase away even the most dangerous snake. And no one fit that description better than Zuberi, the alpha male of the meerkat clan known as the Darkstripe Clan. For even his name meant strong, and any challengers who tried to fight for territory knew that this was true.

Now Zuberi had two sons, Donkor who would one day become the alpha when he was old enough, and Juta his youngest who wasn't so wise. Of course Zuberi never showed much love to his youngest, for it was his birth that caused his mother's death. His mother was Zuberi's greatest treasure; they had grown up together ever since they were a month old. They left their old clan and settled on a new land where they would raise a family for many years.

But her last pregnancy made her body weaker and the labor she had to endure was most painful and lasted for many excruciating hours. They had to call the local medicine man to attend to her, three kits were born but only one survived. Fearing that the kit would not live within his first month, his mother did not bother to name him. Yet he slowly grew strong while the milk he suckled from his mother made her weak and in only a few short weeks of knowing his mother, she passed away quietly one dark night.

This broke Zuberi's heart, and for a few days he moped around the tunnels giving out orders the best he could, but everyone could tell that his spirit was sick and his mind was saddened.

It was finally on the fourth day when Zuberi came to his senses and began to bring out orders once again. While he sat there contemplating about an upcoming tunnel, his sister came up to him with the kit that his mother passed away from.

"Your son has been crying for you Zuberi," she said as she held him in front of his face.

Zuberi stared at the fuzzy face of his newest child, he looked into his eyes and saw his wife's eyes as they blinked and stared back and the smile, it was the same one his wife had. This child had stolen his mother's strength.

"Take Juta away, he reminds me too much of my wife and raise him until he is older. Once he can fend for himself, let him dig in the tunnels," said Zuberi.

His sister did not argue knowing the condition he was under, yet she felt sorry for little Juta especially his name which meant "regret." She hoped though that in a few months things would change for him.

As the months went by Zuberi did change but his love for his youngest son never showed and every time he saw him he would only sneer and walk off to see how Donkor was handling things.

Of course doing this to a child can have a big impact on them and once Juta was older he began to get aggressive and destructive. Often times Zuberi was sent out to see what caused a cave in only to discover that it was Juta who had done it. Zuberi never punished him though and instead walked away calling his son an embarrassment and the biggest mistake he had ever made.

He often got into fights with Donkor as well. Juta usually lost those fights and Zuberi would start showing concern for Donkor like he was the looser and telling him he should not fight or his toughness to become a leader would rub off easily.

It wasn't until Juta was nearing his adult phase when he realized that he needed to get out of there and start a life of his own. No one was showing any care for him and he just felt like a big thorn in their side. So one evening without even telling them, he left the clan in search of a better life.

Of course a meerkat being on his own is like a lion with no teeth. It just doesn't work out very well for them. Poor Juta spent a restless night hiding under a rock while different noises could be heard all around him. Many times he thought he would be found and eaten and by the time the sun rose, poor Juta was such a nervous wreck that he started crying, something he hadn't done since he was a tiny kit.

Of course any sound can attract the attention of any predator since anything to a predator can be food. Juta knew this but he had no idea how to stop it and five minutes later, he heard the worst sound imaginable, the sound of something unknown coming toward him.

The only thing Juta could do was take a big stick and hold it in his paws and hopefully scare the creature away. He was ready to swing when the creature appeared, luckily he stopped in midair.

"Well by golly, that swing would have hit me in the gut no doubt about it, but I know you were aiming for the face," said the meerkat as he stepped toward Juta he was no doubt commenting on Juta's bad swinging skills.

"I thought you were a predator," said Juta sheepishly.

"Well with you carrying on that way, I'm surprised someone hasn't found you yet. You crying about your clan?" asked the meerkat.

"No way, my clan never loved me so there really is no use crying over them," said Juta bravely.

"Then why by the almighty Lord above did you cry like that?" asked the meerkat.

"Because I'm stressed out, sleeping alone with all those night sounds, you never know where they are coming from," said Juta honestly yet angrily.

"Heh you sound like me the first time, come on I'll take you to my gang, you can hang with us if you want, you look like the kind who would enjoy our company," said the meerkat as he started walking away in the long grass.

For the first time in his life, Juta felt accepted. It was a strange feeling at first but then he realized that it was a great happiness and that his life was now about to change. He quickly followed his new friend through the grasses until they came to a tree with a large hole near the roots and four other meerkats resting on the roots of the trees.

They looked tough, but Juta knew they probably had a good side to them like the meerkat he had just met.

"Hey boys we got a new clan member!" the leader said.

The four meerkats looked up and stared, Juta waved sheepishly.

"Tell them your name," said the meerkat as he nudged him.

"They call me Juta," said Juta.

"Nice to meet you Juta," said one meerkat.

"Looking for a home?" asked one.

"You seem tough," said another.

Juta only smiled while the five introduced themselves. The one Juta ran into was named Iregi, the other four were Farid, Kenan, Sule, and Meeka.

Meeka was the only female of the group, yet she looked tough and the kind of meerkat that you would not want to get on the bad side of. She was slender yet strong yet her eyes seem to show a sign of sadness like something bad happened to her long ago. Juta would find out later what her story was about.

"So what do you guys do all day?" asked Juta after he met his new friends long enough.

"We have fun," said Iregi with a sly smile.

"Yeah we don't dig all day like other meerkats, we do what we want and no one can stop us," said Kenan.

To Juta it sounded like a great thing, he had never liked digging and colony life really was boring doing the same things every day. He could sense he was going to like it here.

For almost a year Juta enjoyed the harmless fun that he did with his new friends. Of course to them it was only harmless but to the creatures that they played tricks on it was just downright annoying and the six members were often running away from whatever they were bothering before they could even get caught.

It was one day though when Iregi thought it would be fun to scare a small pack of hyenas in the area. They were known to be a little superstitious and that prank could not be passed up.

Sule was the first to creep up behind the hyenas while the others watched a few feet away, snickering quietly. They hyenas were resting in a rather shady spot as well so they all looked drowsy but not too drowsy.

Sule hid behind a root and in the biggest booming voice, he called to the group. "What do you think you are doing on my roots," he said trying hardest not to laugh.

The lead hyena jumped up startled and looked around. "Who said that," he said nervously.

"It is I the tree you are sleeping under, what makes you think you can sleep near my roots," said Sule.

"We thought we could Mr. Tree, we are tried from the sun and your shade cools us off," said the hyena.

By now Sule had traded with Iregi who began to talk to them as well. "You thought, well that's just a damn shame, no one should think that, not when we have anything to say about it," he said.

"But sir, we did not know you could talk or have a mind," said the hyena.

"You are very ignorant I see, I should do something about that," said Iregi.

"W-what do you plan on doing to us?" asked the hyena who was now shaking.

This time Farid came forward. "Oh I don't know, maybe wack you with my branches ought to teach you all a lesson," he said.

"But what if we just leave?" asked the hyena, the others were now backing out.

"You may, once I am done punishing you," said Farid. "Now let me think.

The hyenas stood there waiting to hear their punishment, but one seemed to notice that this was a trick especially after seeing a small rodent running in another direction a few moments ago. Quietly he snuck behind the tree and saw Farid standing there trying his hardest not to laugh as he thought of a silly punishment for the group.

Farid did not see him until it was too late, he was trapped against the tree. The group saw it happen and Iregi called a retreat. Everyone started to run save for Juta who was surprised by their actions.

"So we are not going to help him?" asked Juta sounding very upset by this.

"Hey Farid's trouble is his own trouble, he can find his own way out, now move before they get you too," said Iregi with a growl before disappearing behind the bushes.

Juta looked back at Farid who was now trapped by five hyenas, and just as Juta turned away, the hyenas grabbed Farid. The tiny meerkat clan was now one short.

For many days, the passing of Farid deeply disturbed Juta who soon realized that Iregi was not really a friend, especially since he would not bother to help Farid in his hour of need. It was about a week after Farid's departure that Iregi finally noticed Juta's behavior and decided to find out why.

"What's wrong Juta, you haven't touched your cockroach casserole," said Iregi while Juta silently picked at his food.

"Oh its nothing," said Juta who was really not in the mood to argue with the leader of his little group.

"Come on its something, you never act like this, you can tell me, we're pals," said Iregi.

"Yeah until a predator comes after me," said Juta with a sneer.

Iregi stared at Juta with surprise, his newest member looked quite upset and now he had to hopefully change his perspective. "You're still sore after we left Farid out there?" asked Iregi.

"I am and you haven't even shown any concern or sadness since he left, I find it heartless," said Juta.

"Hmmm, you find that heartless huh, but didn't you say your father was like that?" asked Iregi.

"My father would have still mourned for me," said Juta.

"You think that, only because you don't know any better," said Iregi.

"Oh yeah, how so?" asked Juta who was now standing up and staring at Iregi directly in the face, his paws rolled into a fist ready to strike if he wanted to.

"Others can trick you into thinking they care for you and when you are looking the other way, they go out and tell others how terrible and stupid you are, that's how my father treated me," said Iregi.

"So you don't care for any of us?" asked Juta.

"Sure I do, its just that we are small and need to take care of ourselves, there was no way we could have all gotten those hyenas away from Farid," said Iregi.

"But showing no sympathy afterwards?" asked Juta who was now yelling in anger.

"Hey I am the leader here, and what I say goes, Farid's trouble was his own trouble, he should have seen that hyena sneek up behind him," said Iregi who was also now yelling and holding his paw in a fist.

"You could have warned him though," said Juta.

"He should have seen it," said Iregi.

"But friends are supposed to help each other," said Juta.

Iregi turned around, he had no way of saying anything back to Juta, yet he was still angry that this young meerkat was challenging his authority whether he was right or not. And before Juta could even blink, Iregi turned around and punched him hard in the face. Juta fell back a little clutching his injured nose and stunned for a short time. But it was short enough for him to come back at Iregi and punch him as hard as he could in the eye. Soon both meerkats were on the ground stirring up the dust around them as they clawed, scratched, and punched each other until one could no longer take it.

The fight lasted only two minutes before Juta was finally knocked cold, he lay there on the ground, bloody and sore while Iregi stood up and laughed at him.

"Next time you think about challenging my authority you better have some new moves ready," said Iregi who then walked away with the rest of the clan, leaving Juta where he was.

Juta slowly got up and made his way to a small rock with a depression underneath and that's where he stayed for a few days, nursing his wounds and wondering why he had gotten himself into the mess he was in now.

He began to long for his old home, he wanted to show his family he could change, he wanted to show them that he was not a mistake his mother made, and he wanted to feel loved and he did not care how long it took.

After about a week of resting and getting his energy back, Juta started his way home. He passed Iregi along the way but no one said anything. They all knew that they were another one down.

He was only a few miles into the trip when a looming shadow flew overhead. A hawk had spotted him and he was so deep in his thoughts that he forgot to watch out for them. He ran as fast as he could but he was no match for the hawk's swift movement and in a few seconds he was caught in the creature's talons.

Juta cried out in fear and tried his hardest to get him to let go but the hawk only ignored him and flew him toward a nearby tree. Juta thought that this was now the end for him and gave up the struggle until something happened. The hawk suddenly let out a screech in agony causing him to let go of his prey and Juta went tumbling down toward the ground. The last thing Juta saw was a large boulder that he was heading straight into.

When Juta awoke, he thought he was dead until he felt a horrible sensation on his left leg that made him cry out.

"Don't move it, you broke it pretty badly," said a familiar voice.

Juta looked up but could only see shadows because it had now been nightfall.

"W-Who are you?" asked Juta.

"It's me Meeka, you took a bad fall but you should be okay as long as you don't move that leg for a few weeks," said the shadow.

"So you're helping me?" asked Juta who took a sip from a concoction that Meeka had made to help him with the pain.

"I thought about what you said to Iregi and that was a very brave thing to do, no one should stay near someone who shows no sympathy for the dead. So after I saw you leave I decided to follow you, of course it was about two hours after you did so but I am glad I can run fast, that hawk would have eaten you. Luckily I know how to use blow darts," said Meeka.

"So you were the one who startled him?" asked Juta.

"Yup, shot him right in the bum I did, he should be okay though, just some swelling for a few days," said Meeka with a sly grin.

Juta laughed before feeling some heavy pains in his chest causing him to lay back down in exhaustion.

"You rest now, that fall should have killed you but your life of sadness seems to have made you stronger," said Meeka.

"That's probably it, and I'm glad too, I want to go back and set things right," said Juta.

"And you will once you are better," said Meeka.

For about a month Meeka stayed by Juta's side, caring for his broken leg and letting all the bruises heal. Even though they knew each other for almost a year, they had never really talked to each other since Meeka was more of the outcast of the group. But now that they were alone, they told each other stories about what had happened to them in their old colonies.

Juta could not blame Meeka for her toughness though. She had grown up in a colony where she was basically ignored and never praised for anything she was done. Often her parents would praise her sister for all she had done and it was usually right in front of her showing no sign of how Meeka would feel. Finally after many months, Meeka had enough and killed her sister in front of everyone. She was exiled from her colony and was told that if she ever set her paws in the colony again she would be killed on sight.

She met Iregi only a few weeks later and became part of his clan until Juta showed up. Now she just wanted to find a place where she could be accepted and also shown care, she did not care if it was love but a care that was enough to make her feel needed.

Juta decided that he would let her come and live with his colony and hopefully they would accept her. And once Juta was all healed up, save for the fact that he now had a permanent limp; they made their way back to his old colony.

When they arrived, Juta's father Zuberi was busy helping to set up a new den and when Juta limped over to him, Zuberi gasped in shock.

"Juta?" he said with surprise.

"Yes father it is me, I have returned if you would like me back as your son, if not I would still like to be a member of this clan as long as you show care for me and my friend Meeka here," said Juta.

Zuberi gave a warm and loving smile and hugged his son proudly before looking at the son he had not seen in a while in the eyes.

"I did not realize how much I loved you until you were gone, I thought you had died out there looking for a better life but now you are back and we must now prepare a feast in your honor, along with your new friend here," said Zuberi who had terribly missed Juta because he no longer saw his wife's eyes and smile in the colony. It made him wish he had been kinder to Juta and thought he would never return.

And so a feast was set and everyone in the colony attended and Juta was loved as much as his brother Donker was. Donker was a little skeptical at first but he finally decided that having a brother back was one of the best things he could have hoped for and became even closer to his brother, though they still did fight a lot. And even Meeka found her place in the colony and became very close to Juta, but of course that is another story.

* * *

Kijani finished the tale while both Kovu and Conga stared in awe. Conga had actually arrived back in the middle of the story and didn't even bother to try and interrupt them with the report on what was going on in the Pride Lands.

"That was well done my son," said Kovu.

"Yes that was truly engrossing, I actually hope to be around when you tell the cubs your other stories," said Conga.

"Well you are all welcome to attend when I am telling them," said Kijani with a smile.

"I would be glad to, and I do agree with you now, it was a good thing I wanted to kick you out, too bad I was rough with you on that," said Kovu.

"But hey at least you still showed some concern for me," said Kijani.

"True," said Kovu.

"And it looks like Conga has some news for us," said Kijani who looked down at Conga with a smile.

"Oh right, sorry I forgot you were here for that, but you know what, why don't you tell Kijani what is going on, he might give some interesting advice," said Kovu.

"You really mean that Dad?" asked Kijani.

"Sure, I've been hearing it for so many years now it's nice to have someone else take over for a change," said Kovu.

Kijani only nodded at Kovu's fun idea and turned to Conga who was now trying to remember what she had discovered in the first place.

"Ummm….what was I saying….oh dear I guess I am growing old already, I really need an apprentice," said Conga.

Kijani and Kovu chuckled.

"Oh yes that's right. The rains are definitely headed this way. I spoke with the Misty Pride and they said they had a nice storm reach them yesterday, it was only a drizzle really but it cooled everything down. I also spoke with Dinari, he and his mate has a new nest to attend to and it's the last one they plan on having since they are as old as I am. Sadly only two eggs are in it, I just hope both are interested in the family business," said Conga.

"And what if they aren't?" asked Kijani.

"Then I will be very frustrated but I will talk to Jabir about what he thinks might happen in the future," said Conga.

"Very good then, umm…well I guess we better prepare for the storm that's coming, no doubt the rest of the pride would like to hear that," said Kijani trying his hardest to sound like someone of important royalty.

Conga only chuckled while Kovu rubbed his son's mane in a goofy manner.

"That's exactly what we will do, come let's go tell the others and watch for changes in the sky," said Kovu.

Kijani smiled and ran down the rock ready to tell the pride what he had heard while Kovu took his time going down the rock with Conga on his shoulder.

* * *

A/N: Okay which excuse can I use first about the long wait? Okay first of all we never got to move to the new place, mom discovered that it was a bad neighborhood and didn't want to live in a place where a lot of robberies occurred. I did have two papers to write during that time though so I was concerned about those two things. I had also hoped to update this chapter on the 29th since you don't get to do that very often but mom ended up catching the flu so I ran around town looking for things to do so I would not catch what she had especially since they really needed me at work. I'm glad I did not catch it because work was really busy this weekend. Everyone knew that Sunday would be snowy so they all flocked to see us since it was 65 degrees outside. We had 3,317 people show up and we did not have enough parking since we were adding more to the overflow lot so we had a lot of fun with that.

So yeah those are my excuses, sorry for the delay I know some people have been waiting patiently while others, I will not reveal names but her name rhymes with Chewy, decided to throw a tantrum on my Deviant art journal. It was actually funny so I am not complaining, I think she read my profile on here and saw the meerkat as the main character.

Also I did kind of base it off of the Bible story in Luke 15:11-32. I thought it would be a fun idea since it's a great parable to try out. And of course name meanings:

Zuberi: Strong

Donkor: The Humble One

Juta: Regret

Farid: Unique

Sule: Adventurous

Iregi: A Rebel

Kenan: Just a regular African name

Meeka: Strong Hearted

Well I hope you all enjoyed this very long chapter, the next one will probably not be as long as this and a little sillier so don't miss it, I have no idea when I will update again. Also this is going to be a long story, probably up to fifty chapters if I can come up with that many short stories for you guys and I kind of want to take my time since this is the only lion king story I can think of for now, of course that can change. So this story might be up and running for a few years, but we will see. Any way I have rambled on and on so please review and I will see you all later.


	5. The Giraffe with Motion Sickness

Jelani chuckled as he hid under a nearby bush. This was the best hiding place ever and he knew the girls would never find him. Of course his hiding place was far from Pride Rock but Asha had hid far from Pride Rock before as well, it took them several hours to find her but it was still a fun hide and seek game, one that Jelani hoped to duplicate.

For a few minutes Jelani gave a sly smile ready to pounce out when the cubs came running to find him but soon his smile turned to pure boredom and started clawing the ground.

"I didn't realize a few hours can take this long," said Jelani with a sigh.

He was still determined though to stay where he was, he would just have to find something to do. Of course the cubs had been warned that morning as well that the storms were finally coming and that they had to watch the skies. If it turned dark, they needed to go in.

Of course Jelani completely forgot about this as he began to play with a colorful beetle and soon dark clouds began to form. For about an hour the clouds gathered slowly, the wind soon began to pick up and small raindrops fell from the sky. It didn't bother Jelani though, the air felt cool and the beetle was such a cool thing to play with.

Suddenly, the sky began to rumble loudly and Jelani looked up with concern in his eyes. No one ever told him about rumbling clouds, perhaps they were hungry and wanted to eat him, he did not like that thought one bit.

"Sorry bug, I have to go home, I'll play with you later. I need to get home before the storm clouds eat me," Jelani said to the beetle as if it was his best friend.

Jelani began to run through the rippling grass as the rain finally began to fall, it was a heavy rain and the wind made it even worse as it stung his eyes making it hard to see. But onward he ran hoping to get home soon. But because of the rain in his eyes, he was not watching where he was going and ran straight into something that felt like a tree. Jelani fell backwards as he heard something grunt with surprise and then stomp the grass with its leg.

"Oh my you gave me quite a scare there," said the creature. It was friendly so Jelani knew he didn't have to run right away.

Jelani shook his fur and looked up to see himself face to face with a giraffe. It was Kifaa; she had been dozing happily as the rain fell around her and also keeping an eye on things. She wasn't doing a very good job on that though.

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to get home before the clouds eat me," said Jelani.

"What makes you think the clouds will eat you?" asked Kifaa with a chuckle.

"Because they are growling, can't you hear it, you better run too before they eat you," said Jelani as he hid underneath Kifaa to get out of the rain.

Kifaa laughed again. "That's only thunder young one, it happens every time it rains, it won't hurt you but the lightening might," she said.

"Oh I thought those were teeth missing me," said Jelani.

"That's an interesting way of seeing it, now you need to get home you said, which cub are you?" asked Kifaa, her neck bent down almost to the ground, staring at Jelani while her ears twitched back and forth in a most comical way.

"I'm Prince Haidar's cub, Jelani," said Jelani.

"Oh Prince Jelani, last time I saw you, it was your coronation and you were only two days old, how many months ago was that any way?" asked Kifaa.

"Four ma'am," said Jelani politely.

"My goodness how time flies. I'm Kifaa by the way," said Kifaa.

"I've heard of you, Conga mentions you on her morning reports sometimes," said Jelani.

"How nice of her, now then you stay under me while I watch for any of your pride members, I would take you home myself but I tend to walk too fast for a lion since I have much longer legs," said Kifaa.

Jelani only nodded while he shivered under his protector. It was a strange feeling being watched by a giraffe but for some reason, he felt safer around her than anyone else who had watched him before, it must have been those huge hooves.

Jelani looked up at Kifaa, staring at her immense size. It was the first time he had ever been this close to a giraffe and even though his father told them that they were the tallest animals on the plain he did not believe him. Now he did and could not help staring at her long legs that were covered in spots. His eyes followed her legs all the way up to her stomach where he could see spots but they were very pale and not as noticeable. Her stomach was more white and creamy than spotty, and when he saw it jerk a little, he gave a gasp of surprise.

"Is everything okay?" asked Kifaa as she looked down at him again.

"Are you hungry? I just saw your stomach twitch," said Jelani.

"Hah Hah no, that was just my calf turning around in there, its due in about a month," said Kifaa in a very motherly voice.

Jelani sad nothing but he did wonder how a giraffe gave birth when they were so high off the ground. He decided not to ask though; it would be more fun to watch it happen if he got lucky enough.

A little ways off, Kijani was just returning with Hondo on a small expedition to check out an elephant herd for Kiara. It had to be cut short because of the rain but he didn't really mind, it felt nice and the savanna would no longer be hot for another half a year.

He was talking to Hondo about running in a nearby mud puddle when he heard Kifaa yell at him from three hundred feet away. Knowing that giraffe's rarely bothered with lions unless it was urgent, he went to investigate. Before he could even ask what the matter was, Jelani poked his head from underneath the wet grass.

"Hey why aren't you at Pride Rock?" asked Kijani in a voice only an uncle really had when their nephew was not doing what he was supposed to be doing.

"I was playing hide and seek with the girls, and went out too far," said Jelani as he bent down to let Kijani grab him by the nape of the neck.

"Well let's take you home before you catch cold, Azmera must be worried sick. Thank you for watching him Kifaa," said Kijani as he grabbed the cub.

"You are very welcome, and take care," said Kifaa who then went back to her napping while the rain continued to fall.

Kijani nodded back and raced back home with Hondo hoping that Jelani had not been missed for too long.

That was definitely not the case though when Kijani arrived at Pride Rock, Azmera was frantically circling the cave while Naima was trying her hardest to calm her down. They were so distracted by this that they did not even see Kijani and Hondo pad into the cave, the three triplets on the other hand did notice and Zuri was the first to run forward and try to pounce on Jelani

Kijani quickly let Jelani go who then sat there and started shaking all the water that was on him onto the girls. The girls squealed with delight. Causing both Azmera and Naima to run over and see if Jelani was alright.

"We gave up searching when it started to rain," said Asha trying her hardest to talk to Jelani while Azmera picked him up.

"Yeah we thought, you would be back then," said Zuri.

"I actually went out to the Pride Lands by myself, and I met Kifaa the giraffe," said Jelani proudly while hanging from his mother's mouth.

The girls squealed with delight while Azmera only growled.

"And you had to get all wet and worry me sick didn't you, now I have to give you a bath," said Azmera.

"Aww mom!" said Jelani grumpily.

The girls started to laugh before Naima gave them a soft growl of her own.

"You three need a bath as well," said Naima.

"Aww man I wanted to hear a story from Kijani," said Kali.

"Yeah me too," said Zuri.

"Well," said Naima while licking Asha down the back causing the young cub to shiver from the sudden feeling of a rough tongue cleaning her, "Why not let him tell you a story while we bathe you, if that is alright with him." Naima looked curiously up at Kijani who only smiled.

"I do not mind one bit, is there something in particular you guys want to hear?" asked Kijani.

"Yeah I thought of this while I was with Kifaa," said Jelani as he twisted himself around to look at his uncle. "How do giraffes not get sick from being so high up?"

"Well that's a good question, though the story does contain situations about the birds and the bees, but I will try to make it age appropriate for you guys," said Kijani as he looked at Azmera and Naima with concern.

"Oh don't worry, they need to understand sooner or later," said Naima.

"Yeah I found out about the real stork when I was younger than Jelani," said Azmera.

"Hah, Hah alright then, let's see what I can tell," laughed Kijani.

* * *

Now as you know, each animal has a distinctive thing about them that separates them from other animals. The zebra has the stripes that can confuse any lion that is trying to stalk one in a group. The elephant has a long trunk that can easily grasp branches with (and swing poo at you if you are not careful enough). And of course the monkey has a tail that can help it swing through trees with the greatest of ease. (No this story does not rhyme)

But the most strange creature of all is that of a giraffe, it has a neck that can be longer than any one else in the savanna, and his legs are so long that you have to crane your neck to see where they end. It's like a strange creature out of an imaginary story that just bounced right out of the person's brain who created it, and that's what makes them so unique. They have spots from head to toe, a long tail that can easily swat a fly in the blink of an eye, and horns on their head called ossicones which males use more often than females for territorial disputes.

Now Amari was the perfect example of a giraffe like that, he was eighteen feet tall from head to toe and his head was so massive that some believed it was thicker than the shaman's baobab tree. He was still young though, only six years, the mature age for a male to start courting as many females as he could. But he had a problem.

Amari had motion sickness. The first year of his life, he did not have a problem, he was just like any normal calf, playing with the other giraffes his age often causing mischief and what not. But a few months after his first birthday, things began to change. At first they were small headaches that could often be fixed by a small flower and the headaches would be gone for a few days.

But as the years went by, the headaches got worse and he often found himself lying on his side in the late evening wondering how long he had been out and how come no other animal had tried to eat him.

He tried his hardest to stay level, looking down was the problem that caused everything to make him get motion sickness, looking up helped him get better but looking straight was his best bet for not having a bad headache or an upset tummy and he tried to hide it the best he could.

Then there was Tisha, Amari's best friend since he was five months old. They had promised each other when they were old enough to understand the birds and the bees that they would be mates and have as many children together as possible. But when Amari's motion sickness became a problem, they rarely ever saw each other and when Amari did see Tisha; he usually ran the other way making her wonder what was wrong.

But secrets can't last forever and one day Tisha followed him through the savanna telling Amari that she was old enough and that she had been waiting for far too long for their first child. Amari knew he would never loose her and stopped what he was doing and stared Tisha straight in the eye.

"Tisha!" He said sternly.

"Yes my love," Tisha said as she circled her long time mate.

"I………………….," there was a long silence.

"Yes?" asked Tisha waiting to hear the excuse.

"There comes a time in a mans life where one says, I'll get to it when I'm ready and I am not ready," said Amari.

"But you are a mature adult aren't you and you promised and you have been running from me since you were a year old and I have been searching for you because I want you to have my first calf, all the other males are after me and I have to run from them," said Tisha.

"But the commitment," said Amari in a whiny voice.

"Oh you'll be too busy with other females to know the difference," said Tisha who then gasped. "You didn't mate with someone before me did you?"

"Hey a promise is a promise, and I promised you, but not right now, not when my hooves seem to have some sort of fungus on them, look do you want to have a fungus among us?" asked Amari as he quickly scraped some grass onto his hoof that looked very gooey and gross.

"But what does it have to do with children?" asked Tisha.

"Everything, our children could grow up to be fungusy and then all the animals would laugh at them and call them funny names," said Amari.

"Oh that won't happen, now I demand you start this now, I have been waiting long enough," said Tisha as she waggled her butt into his face.

And of course to a male giraffe, that is all too tempting and before he could even say no for the millionth time, he went for it, only to wake up a few moments later in the grass while Tisha looked up at him.

"Did I succeed?" asked Amari.

Tisha only stared at him and grunted before running off believing he had done so on purpose. Amari of course knew the problem but he didn't want to tell her the truth. Hopefully that was enough to keep her away now.

But that wasn't the case, two days later he ran into her again and this time she was very determined.

"Will you cooperate this time?" asked Tisha.

"I really don't know because you see I have mouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu," said Amari as he tried his hardest to look straight ahead but his bowels were telling him otherwise.

"What you have a mouse on your tail or something?" asked Tisha as she tried to look at his tail. (Hee Hee, small tribute to Ratatouille)

"No it's not that," said Amari.

"Then stop stalling," said Tisha yelling as loud as she could causing Amari to back up with fright.

Amari sighed and tried to get it over with, only to find himself in the same position as last time only this time, Tisha looked at him with concern.

"Are you doing this because you don't want any kids or are you really sick?" asked Tisha.

"I want kids, I just can't do it, my head starts to get all fuzzy while my stomach feels all nauseating but for some reason I can't barf as if my neck can only bring my stomach up halfway before I faint," said Amari.

"And why did you not tell me this before?" asked Tisha.

"Because I thought you might hate me," said Amari sheepishly.

Tisha watched Amari get up before walking over to him and giving him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"We have been in love for most of our lives, there is no way I would ever hate you for any problem you have," said Tisha.

Amari only smiled while Tisha leaned against him and started to groom his mane with her teeth because it was getting quite mussy.

"But we do have to do something about this and I know just the person for the job," said Tisha between strokes

"Who?" asked Amari.

"Sela the shaman," said Tisha.

Right away Tisha led Amari to Sela, an old baboon who could heal anything at the drop of a dime. Sela of course was more than happy to help and she looked over Amari all over asking him strange questions and making him cough when she searched odd places.

For the longest time she searched and after a while Amari thought that Sela could never find the problem until she gasped in surprise.

"What is it?" asked Amari.

"I should have looked up sooner because I didn't realize it could happen," said Sela getting all excited.

"What would happen?" asked Amari getting excited while Tisha sat nearby waiting to hear if their luck would be good.

"You're left ossicone is on backwards," said Sela.

Amari looked confused until he felt the top of his head get twisted while Sela somehow began to turn it around. For a moment Amari felt all sorts of feelings, from anger, to distress, to depression and to even emo and that would not have been pretty. Until finally Sela stopped and stood in front of him.

"Now how do you feel?" asked Sela.

Amari looked up and down and walked around the tree seeing if any strange feelings would occur but nothing did. And for the first time in years, he ran as fast as he could from the tree to a nearby rock and then back to the tree before finally responding.

"I feel great," said Amari.

Fifteen months later, Tisha gave birth to a healthy little girl and soon after, the other females in his area had his kids and as the years went by his family grew until he died of the ripe old age of twenty-eight. His children totaled thirty-three, there could have been more than that but as you know, childhood can be dangerous. Still though he had a great life and it was all thanks to Sela for making it all possible.

* * *

Kijani finished the story while all the cubs stared at him with mouths open wide, they were all quite speechless. Azmera and Naima on the other hand were both trying their hardest not to laugh at their cubs silly confused faces.

"And that's why giraffes don't get sick," said Kijani keeping a straight face.

"That was weird," said Kali.

"So we could have something on us that can make us get sick like Amari sick too?" asked Asha.

"Probably but because we are low to the ground, we don't have to worry about that," said Kijani.

"Well it is a story, so it's probably not true, but it was entertaining," said Jelani trying to be as truthful as he could.

"Well I'm glad you agree on that," said Kijani.

"Do you have any more weird stories like that?" asked Jelani.

"Probably but what's weird to some is actually very normal to others," said Kijani.

Jelani and the cubs nodded, it was the first time feeling very unsure about a story, but Kijani knew that in the future, their opinions of stories would definitely be different.

* * *

A/N: Wasn't that story cwazy? Yeah I know I've been in one of those moods lately where you just want to giggle like crazy. Plus I saw Horton Hears a Who so that can also be the reason for that. And for some reason while writing this I could just hear Steve Carrell's voice on Amari, weird huh. So yeah go see Horton Hears a Who, it's hilarious.

On a more serious and grumpy sounding manner, I have noticed that I am getting less and less views on my stories. Are they that bad or are you guys just busy? Come on you can tell me I'm not afraid as long as you don't bash it too hard and say it sucks without giving a really good explanation on that I'm fine. Yeah last chapter only 22 people looked at it and that made me sad. So please read and review and when you say you will check out a story please review it as well that lets me know you read it, plus I read your story and reviewed it, what's so hard about doing the same for me. I just feel it's a nice thing to do, I know I'm weird shut up.

And before I forget once again, the name meanings:

Amari: Strength (Yes I did have another character named that, Nala's brother in Memoirs of a Blue Bird)

Tisha: Strong willed

Sela: Savior

Oh yes and before I forget, giraffes don't get motion sickness because there is a vein in their neck that keeps them from letting the blood rush to their head too fast, especially when the bend down for water, so yeah my own imagination drove me nuts on this story. That's actually kind of fun though.

Also I may not update again until May, it just depends on my work load right now. I've been really busy writing lots of papers and it's driving me nuts and its keeping me from doing things I want to do. But don't give up on me I still have lots of stories to tell and hopefully they will not be as lame as this one. Well see you all later.


	6. The hyena who lost his laugh

"And Gasira is expecting any time now, I don't want the cubs to die before they open their eyes."

Kijani heard these words as he entered Pride Rock three days after the first rainstorm; it was an unfamiliar voice so he was interested in knowing what creature was talking to Kovu and Kiara. He wasn't surprised to see Haidar with him, learning his parent's trades before becoming a king himself. It was a hyena, no doubt from the clan he had fought with but was now at peace.

"I remember last year when your den flooded a week afterwards, but three days my goodness perhaps we gave you bad land," said Kiara sounding a little worried.

"Oh no its perfect land, it's just that my father Rugar, chose a bad place for raising cubs, the side of a river really is not a good place." said the hyena.

His name was Naasir and he was Rugar's successor, he had been so for two years now. As soon as he became the leader of the clan, he made sure Kiara and Kovu knew that no harm would come of them and only talked to them if a problem arose which included the rain soaked den.

"Well I don't see any harm of expanding your boundaries a little, that rocky area is perfect, I thought you had taken it over any way when we first made peace," said Kiara.

"Well I guess my Dad thought that was enough, he did not want to upset any of you," said Naasir.

"Well it's always nice to ask any way, and I hope the new den does work out for you," said Kovu.

"Thank you sire, I now leave you in peace," said Naasir as he bowed down to them.

Kijani watched him for a moment before sensing that a curious pair of eyes was watching him. He looked around and saw a young hyena, probably a little older than Jelani, staring up at him.

"Hello there," said Kijani politely.

The cub only stared, Kijani wasn't sure if it was awe or fear because of his scars. He was about to speak when Naasir moved forward.

"Layla, don't you know it's impolite to stare at someone," said Naasir.

"Oh it's probably just my scars that scared her or something, I get it all the time," said Kijani.

"She still needs to learn though that it is rude, say you're sorry," said Naasir with a growl and a small slap on the back of her head.

"But Dad its not that, he's a storyteller," said Layla.

"Oh did the lion cubs tell you?" asked Naasir.

"No Dad, I just know he is and I'll bet he can tell the story about the hyena who lost his laugh," said Layla.

Naasir looked back at Kijani with a surprised look, he knew Kijani had just entered the cave and he had not even heard him speak. "How does she know?"

"Its just a sixth sense when others see me, they know I can tell stories, it happened to the original story teller too, they seem to know that we have a vast library in our minds," said Kijani.

"So does that mean you can tell the story of how the hyena lost his laugh? I asked Kumanda to tell it but he's so old he can't remember it," said Layla.

"Layla, don't talk bad about your elders!" growled Naasir.

"Sorry Daddy, but its true," said Layla.

"Just wait until you get to his age, then you will know how it feels," said Naasir.

Layla looked down at the floor sadly, for a moment, Kijani only stared at her before finally remembering that he did have that story and Layla probably wanted to hear it.

"I do have that story though, if you still want to listen," said Kijani.

Layla's face lit up before jumping up and down with excitement. "Oh I do I do I do!" she said.

"Okay calm down and I will tell you the tale, its not too long but if your father needs to go back to the clan he may, I can bring her back later if you would like," said Kijani as he addressed both Layla and Naasir.

"If its not a problem, you may, I can also come later in the day before it gets dark to pick her up, I know how she likes to play with the cubs," said Naasir.

"Okay we'll see how it goes then," said Kijani.

Naasir only nodded before exiting out of the cave, Layla stayed seated, her ears forward ready to hear the tale she had been waiting for for quite a while.

"So how did the hyena loose his laugh?" asked Layla.

"Oh it's a sad story, but one that teaches everyone about hope and love, its probably why so many hyena clans tell it today, now listen carefully for you may have to tell your friends later," said Kijani.

* * *

As you know, hyenas are known for their laughter. It's always strange to hear them giggling insanely when they circle an animal they want to kill, and even other hyenas agree on this. Some have even been known to take an oath never to laugh at their diner and to only laugh when something is funny. But others are just content with the way they are.

Khalid was one of them; sure he was the quiet one when it came to a meal but when excitement happened around him he was very happy to show it. Laughing till his hearts content, especially around his true love Zahra. He was such a goofball, leaping into the air, showing off some of his tricks, and suddenly popping out of nowhere to give his love a flower.

They were both inseparable, nothing could keep them apart save for one thing.

"_Oh what was that?" asked Layla._

"_Hey you're not supposed to interrupt the story," said Zuri who had only arrived a moment ago with her sisters and Jelani._

"_Hey be nice, she didn't know," said Kijani._

Zahra was from a neighboring clan, and the clans second in command knew about their love affair. In a very selfish way, he chose her to go to a faraway kingdom to help rid another clan of an evil hyena who wanted to create a very bad society.

Khalid wanted to go so he could help her fight but his leader would not let him and sent others instead. So Khalid stayed near his and Zahra's clan's boundary and waited for her day and night for many months.

But the months went by and the hyena clans had not been heard from, everyone questioned whether they won or lost and even asked the traveling birds if they knew. Usually it was the same answer, they were still fighting.

Poor Khalid though, his longing was becoming hard on him because he was so afraid for Zahra's life. He wanted her beside him, he wanted to feel her warm fur next to his, and he wanted to run away with her and find a clan of their own.

But as you know some longings can no longer be tolerated by the mind and strange things can happen to a person who is missing their love and that's exactly what happened to Khalid. After seven months of not seeing or hearing any sign from Zahra, his mind began to change. No one ever saw Khalid as his giddy self, he never laughed, his fur was unkempt and smelly, and he was often in a cave having discussions with a pebble.

Now all the hyenas found this very strange but no one dared to go near him except for his older brother Dibia who knew his young brother needed help. It was late in the afternoon after a hunt when Dibia entered Khalid's solemn lair where he was busy scratching a flea.

"Khalid, dinner is ready if you would like to join," said Dibia.

"Can Zahra come too?" asked Khalid holding onto the small pebble in his paws.

"If she wants but I don't think she will enjoy it," said Dibia trying his hardest to sound like he was having a regular conversation with his brother.

"Why not?" asked Khalid.

"Because she is from another clan and our leader will not like that, he will make her wait her turn," said Dibia.

"Well then I will fight for her to eat with me if I have to," said Khalid his eyes menacing and crazy.

Dibia knew he could not hold back his feelings about Khalid's problem any longer and knew he had to do something about this; he had to find Zahra for Khalid before Khalid did something drastic.

"How about I bring you your meal, you could have a nice and quiet time with Zahra then," said Dibia.

"You would do that for me?" asked Khalid and single tear falling down his face.

Dibia nodded while Khalid gave Dibia the strange grin he had been showing for the past few months. This was not a healthy grin and Dibia knew that, he had to save him before Khalid did something terrible to himself.

So Dibia quickly got a piece of meat for his brother and while Khalid carried on how delicious the meat was with the pebble, he ran as fast as he could away from the clan boundaries to find the place where the war was being fought.

For days Dibia searched for the battle and for many days he kept wondering if it was still being fought any more until he came to a place where many noises could be heard over a ridge. He ran as fast as he could toward the sound until he found the battle, being fought in a large valley. Many bodies were strewn in different places some seemed to have been there forever, while others seemed to have been freshly dead.

Carefully he made his way down the hill where he ran into a familiar face, a member of his clan who was in pretty bad shape.

"Kunto?" Dibia said surprised.

"What are you doing here Dibia?" asked Kunto with a tired look on her face.

"I came to find Zahra, Khalid's love where is the leader of your side?" asked Dibia.

Kunto sighed and gave him a mournful look. "We take care of ourselves now, we do have leaders but they only tell who goes in and out, it's every hyena for itself really and if anyone tries to leave, we are thrown back to the enemy," said Kunto.

"How awful," said Dibia.

"It is, but many of use have tried to speak to Chiwanda, he is the one who started this war, but no one can reason with him," said Kunto.

Dibia stared at the ground for a moment and then at the battle that was around him. He recognized some of his friends and other clan members but he could not tell if Zahra still in the battle or not.

"I'll try to speak to him then," said Dibia.

"Be careful, he will listen but if he does not like what he hears then he will kill you," said Kunto.

Dibia only nodded nervously as he made his way toward the place where many hyena guards stood. Several of them were standing between two rock pillars and far beyond that stood Chiwanda who was watching the battle with great amusement. Once Dibia was close enough, he was quickly stopped by two guards.

"What do you want?" asked one.

"I came to speak to Chiwanda about a small matter," said Dibia as brave as he could.

The two hyenas looked at each other until one nodded to a hyena nearby who instantly pushed Dibia forward.

"Make a move on the great one and I will crush you," he said.

Dibia only swallowed nervously as he cautiously made his way to Chiwanda who quickly noticed the young hyena's presence. Chiwanda was big for his size, his teeth were longer than most hyenas and his eyes gave the look of danger that would make anyone run and hide for safety.

"What do you want?" he asked in a deep dark voice.

"I have come from afar sire to ask if I may take a member of mine off your paws," said Dibia.

Chiwanda stared at Dibia for a moment before letting out a very evil laugh, one that no hyena had ever made before.

"You must not have heard of me and my ways of dealing with creatures like you, for I am Chiwanda, creator of a new dynasty that I plan to create once this war is won by my own clan. You see I plan on making my dynasty so strong that even the lions will fear us when they hear our name. For I am the destroyer of peace and the creator of a new hyena nation where there is only one ruler, me," he said.

"But I just want to take a member, she is not even yours," said Dibia.

"Ah but she will be once I win this battle," said Chiwanda.

"How can it be your battle though, you aren't even fighting," said Dibia.

Chiwanda let out a loud growl and swiped at Dibia with his powerful paws sending the young hyena sprawling on the ground and gasping for air.

"Let me tell you something, no matter how important your problem is, its definitely not as great as mine, I intend to rule our kind, you on the other hand probably only need her for a simple hunting matter," said Chiwanda showing his dangerous pointy teeth.

"Its not a simple hunting matter and my brother will die if this problem is not taken care of," said Dibia.

"One less hyena to worry about then," said Chiwanda.

Dibia growled, no one turned their back on anyone Dibia loved; he wanted to strike at the evil ruler but knew it would be suicide; he had to think of something. Then he got an idea.

"Have you ever been loved before?" asked Dibia.

Chiwanda turned to Dibia with surprised.

"Or have you even loved someone else before?" asked Dibia.

Chiwanda stared at Dibia for a long moment; he had never been asked this question for he had lived his entire life with a small group of hyenas who had planned to make him a great ruler. Beating him mercilessly for days on end, making him know who was in charge of a group. Telling him what a pathetic excuse of a hyena he was, never showing him an emotion that was kind.

"What is this love that you speak of?" asked Chiwanda with a surprised look causing some older hyenas in the back to growl with anger knowing that Chiwanda would be very curious.

"You don't know what love is?" asked Dibia.

"No, I've never heard of it," said Chiwanda.

"Oh it's nothing that is of any importance," said an older hyena who moved in between them.

"Yes it is, and I am determined to know, now either get out of our way or I will rip out your throat," said Chiwanda.

The old hyena backed away while Chiwanda stared at Dibia with curious eyes. Dibia knew he had to give a good speech to appease this dangerous warlord.

"Well love is not something you can take for granted, love is unconditional, love is the ability to bring happiness and when you love someone you are willing to give up your own life to save that person you love so they can have a chance to see tomorrow. Love is a wonderful thing, it brings out feelings you never knew you had, and you see things in others that you never knew they had. And no matter what you do to make a new kingdom, nothing will be stronger than the love each clan provides, they will fight for it until you are nothing but a speck of dirt that we will stomp on. Their hopes may fade but not their love."

Dibia stood there for a moment wondering what Chiwanda was thinking. The warlord only stared with a blank look on his face that suddenly seemed tired and not as dangerous.

"What is her name?" asked Chiwanda after what seemed like an eternity.

"Zahra," said Dibia.

Quietly Chiwanda padded forward and made his way to the edge where he could see the entire battle and as soon as he appeared, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at him. There was a long pause before the warlord spoke.

"Is there a Zahra still among you?" he said.

For a moment there was no sign of her and Dibia worried that she had died long ago until a familiar face pushed her way out of the group and stood before Chiwanda looking as brave as she could.

"It is I, I don't know what I did to anger you and I will fight to the death to keep you out of my way," said Zahra.

"You have a love back home don't you?" asked Chiwanda.

For a moment Zahra stared with surprise until Chiwanda asked again. "Yes sir," she finally said.

"Then go home, he needs you. In fact everyone else go home as well, find the ones you love for they need you as well, this war is over," said Chiwanda.

And without looking back the hyena returned to his cave and sat there staring at the ground. Dibia stood next to him wondering what the defeated warlord was thinking.

"You may go home as well young one, you have defeated me with your logic, I wish I was as kind and hopeful as you," said Chiwanda.

"Perhaps you can be, I can teach you to be like us, you can live with our clan and learn how a real hyena acts. It may take some time, but you'll get used to it," Dibia said with a smile.

Chiwanda gave a weak smile back and turned to the elder hyenas who taught him his ways, they were only staring at him not knowing what to do. Chiwanda growled at them.

"And you four should learn their ways as well, join other clans, tell them of your mistakes, its not my problem if they kill you for it," said Chiwanda as he got up and followed Dibia out of the valley and back home.

Zahra had seen Dibia beside Chiwanda and was waiting for him a few feet away to bring her home to the one she loved. Along the way she told Dibia how much she missed Khalid and was amazed at how Dibia told her that he had not laughed since she had gone missing.

When they finally reached home a few days later, Dibia brought Zahra to the cave where Khalid was hiding and he seemed more bedraggled than the last time Dibia saw him.

"Khalid!" said Dibia with a smile.

Khalid looked up at his brother, his face sunken and forlorn, his eyes grieving and searching for whatever Dibia had with him today.

"You came back, I thought you have deserted me," said Khalid his voice sounding very gravely.

"No I would never desert you brother, and neither will she," said Dibia as he moved aside to reveal Zahra.

For a moment, Khalid thought Zahra was a ghost and stared at her long and hard, wondering if he could see through her, or if it was only a dream.

"I'm dead aren't I?" asked Khalid.

"No Khalid, I'm home," said Zahra as she gave Khalid a heavy lick on the cheek.

That lick did it; in an instant Khalid jumped up and kissed Zahra back. Dibia watched from the sidelines with Chiwanda who was amazed by how much love can change someone in an instant. And before Khalid even left the cave, he let out his trademark laugh that was music to Dibia's ears.

"My brother is back," said Dibia with a smile.

Together the four hyenas took a new path, not back to their clan but to create a new one, one that was better for all four of them and one where love would remain heavy in their hearts.

* * *

Kijani made his way through the rain soaked grass toward Naasir's clan; Layla was dangling in his jaws falling asleep every step of the way. He reached the border where Naasir was actually waiting and he let out a smile.

"Thanks for bringing her back, I would have come but Gasira is in labor, I can't leave just in case I need to figure out who can go find Jabir in case she needs help," said Naasir.

"You're welcome, it was no trouble at all," said Kijani as he set Layla softly down.

Layla looked up at her father and then at Kijani before giving him a warm smile. "Thanks Kijani, I loved that story, can I come and listen to you again sometime?" asked Layla.

"If your father is alright with that, I don't see why not," said Kijani as he looked at Naasir.

"I don't see why not, I can have an escort bring her over when she wants to visit you," said Naasir.

"I can always send Conga, she's always happy enough to do anything for us," said Kijani.

"Very well then, have a goodnight and I will most likely see you soon," said Naasir.

Kijani nodded and made his way back to Pride Rock. When he was halfway there, he stopped and looked toward the east where the Misty Lands lay. He knew she was there probably wondering where he was at that exact moment. In a few days he hoped to travel and see her again, for he knew she was missing him as much as he missed her.

* * *

A/N: Yay it's been exactly a month since my last update and I finally had time to sit down and write this. I know it was a little corny but I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter might be a while to update again as well, finals are almost here and I have a few papers to write before the end of the semester. But I should be back in full force by mid May. Hopefully I will update a lot as well, if I don't get too busy with work. So here are the name meanings of the characters.

Gasira: Bold

Naasir: Defender

Layla: Born at night (you will definitely see more of her)

Khalid: Eternal

Zahra: Flower

Dibia: Healer

Chiwanda: Mad

Kunto: Third child

I think that's everyone, if I forgot someone, just let me know and I will add them later in the next chapter. So please review and what not and I will see you all later.


	7. The Shaman's Apprentice

The four cubs lay down in the cave, looking quite bored as they pushed a pebble back and forth between each other. A rainstorm had come a day ago and showed no signs of slowing down and to the cubs, rain lasting more than a few hours felt like an eternity to them.

"So when will Kijani be back?" Asha asked Simba who was watching the young cubs while everyone else was out.

"He just went out to help with the hunt, so whenever they find something they will return," said Simba with a yawn. He enjoyed babysitting, yet he always seemed to nod off near the end of the watch, which was fine, the cubs were usually quiet.

"Grampa Simba, do you know any good stories to tell?" asked Jelani as he looked curiously up at Simba's old grizzled face.

Simba stared at his great grandson and gave a small chuckle. "Now you know better than to ask me that, compared to Kijani, I don't have what it takes, plus my tale would probably be finished in five minutes, since descriptions are not my strong suit," he said.

"But you told us some great things about Timon and Pumbaa before Kijani returned, you even told us how to get the right burp out thanks to Timon and that was such a fun story," said Kali.

"Yes but that was before I almost coughed up a lung," said Simba remembering how hard it was now in his old age to create the worlds loudest belch. Old age can really change things.

"And you promised to tell us about how Rafiki hit you on the head," said Zuri.

"Well that's all he really did, he hit me on the head," said Simba.

The cubs scowled at Simba, for a baby sitter he sure was lousy at it, Simba could sense this too and quickly tried to change the subject.

"Hey how about this, let's pretend this rock is a wildebeest and this rock is a lion. Wow look at that lion chase the wildebeest, oh no Mr. Wildebeest look out he's going to eat you, Oh no, he got him," said Simba as he held on to both rocks and began hitting them together as he roared and tried to make silly wildebeest noises. Of course those noises made Simba sound like he was trying to cough up a furball.

Simba then looked at the cubs; they were obviously not amused with his weird game of rock lion and rock wildebeest. The four of them were still scowling looking as if they were about to pummel grampa Simba for even coming up with such a stupid joke. Simba pinned his ears down and looked at the floor, wondering what to do next. Luckily a savior arrived in the feathered persuasion.

"Just thought I should let you all know that dinner will be zebra," said Conga as she appeared in the cave entrance.

"Oh good I love zebra," said Simba.

"Yay Kijani is coming back too!" said the triplets as they jumped up and down. Jelani smiled and ran out to the entrance to see if the pride was coming soon. The rain though made it hard to see but after letting his eyes get used to the light, he saw some shadowy figures move through the grass.

Jelani smiled as he watched the pride slowly make their way toward pride rock with pieces of meat in their jaws to give to the cubs. Kijani was leading the way up with a big hunk of hind leg, Jelani's favorite part of the meat.

"Is that my dinner?" asked Jelani as he hopped up and down at the cave entrance.

Kijani could only grin with the piece of meat in his mouth but the way he lifted his eyebrows, Jelani knew that his uncle was treating him. Once he was fully inside the cave, he dropped the meat in front of Jelani and quickly shook the water off his fur. The girls squealed with delight.

"It's definitely for you little man, that zebra had your name written all over it," said Kijani as he licked his paws so he could clean the mud off and to get them to dry better.

Jelani smiled and then attacked the piece of meat while the three girls got their share of the meal from their mother, a nice big slab of rib.

Kijani watched his nephew as he tore at the leg until Haidar arrived looking at him with concern. "You know Jelani, you shouldn't eat so fast, you don't want to have a stomach ache," he said.

Jelani quickly slurped down a piece of meat without chewing. "But I want to hear Kijani tell a story," he said.

"Yeah the faster we finish the quicker we get to hear a story," said Asha.

"Well I had already planned to tell you all a story while you were eating, I thought you all were just trying to gorge yourselves to death because you were all so hungry that story time was the least of your worries," said Kijani.

"Nope that's not it, we just want a story because we are so bored," said Jelani as he gave a heavy sigh after eating too quickly.

Kijani laughed at him before pacing back and forth between the cubs wondering what to tell them, most likely though they had a story they wanted to hear.

"Do any of you have an idea for a story?" asked Kijani.

"Yeah I was wondering if there had ever been a time where it rained so much that you couldn't go outside because there was now a lake where you hunted," said Kali as fast as she could. She had wanted to ask the question all day.

"Oh there is definitely a story about that, actually there are several stories one you probably heard before about how only two animals could go on a boat at one time," said Kijani with a curious look to make sure the kids had heard it before, only a select few hadn't.

They all nodded, Azmera had actually told them only a month before Kijani even returned to the pride.

"Good, there are some stories about animals on that boat but you all want a regular one about it raining a lot but not so much that the whole world flooded but only a small area," said Kijani.

"Yeah something like that," said Kali.

"Okay well I know just the story then, and too bad Jabir is not here because it actually involves a young shaman who….well it might be better if I just start the story," said Kijani as he began.

* * *

Nasra was a young baboon, quiet but never afraid to ask about the strange things her teacher would often show her. She was a little nervous with new experiments, but then again all apprentice shaman are. She had been an apprentice for nearly two years now after her mother thought it was best for her to become one because of her infinite curiosity and kindness.

Her mentor was actually an old Secretary Bird, a long legged fellow who loved to find new ways on how to cook up snakes for Secretary birds loved snakes. His name was Ekevu and he was not shy about flapping his wings or pecking his beak at any silly mistake that Nasra made, especially if she knew better.

"No No No!" he would say as Nasra mixed the ingredient wrong. "First the mouse hair and then the bone dust."

"But Ekevu there are so many different concoctions we need to put together, how can one remember so many in such a short time," she said while rubbing her hands together, a nervous thing she would do especially when Ekevu was not happy about something.

"You need to if you must spend a few months without me, if you didn't learn them fast enough half the savanna will die because of your clumsiness, now mix that fruit with the elephant wax, no not that fruit the other one," said Ekevu as he pecked Nasra in the head.

Ekevu wasn't usually as grouchy as he was now, usually he was a little bit kinder but Nasra needed to know as many concoctions as she could as soon as she could. Ekevu had to make an important journey to the jungle where many seasoned shamans go for a few months every three years to discuss new ideas they had discovered to help the animals of their area.

"What if I don't know all these by the time I leave?" asked Nasra as she mixed a concoction together with a worried voice.

"I hope to have you know at least ninety-five percent of them by the time I leave, it won't be for another two weeks so hopefully your mind will be filled with all the best knowledge I gave you, now stir that up a little faster the wax gets too sticky if its too slow," said Ekevu.

Nasra knew she did not want to let her teacher down so she worked as hard as she could to please him. Ekevu would watch over her shoulder while she practiced with as many concoctions as she could until she had a little better knowledge of what she was doing. The more she knew the more Ekevu showed patience and the less she received a heavy blow of the beak.

When the two weeks finally arrived, Nasra knew almost ninety percent of what Ekevu taught her, a little less than what he wanted but still enough to make him happy and feel safe about leaving the lands in her care. He was about to fly away and head toward the jungle in the early morning when he decided to give her a practice run before heading out.

"Now what do you give a lion who has mange?" asked Ekevu.

"Mango juice mixed with acacia leaves, apply to bare area until hair finally grows back," said Nasra in a proud voice.

"Very good, and if a giraffe has a sore neck?" asked Ekevu.

"Rub vigorously with goldenrod on the sore area until the soreness is not as bad," aid Nasra.

"Well done, what if an elephant has a cold?" asked Ekevu.

Nasra had trouble with this one; elephants had such a long nose that their medicines were different from others. "Oh I know you have to mix four different things to give them," she said.

"And those four things are?" asked Ekevu.

"A handful of dried waterhole grass, a half of coconut flesh, ……….uh ground up zebra rib bones, and ………oh dear I should know this, a pinch of honey?" asked Nasra.

"Very close though the bones are of the Thompson's gazelle. Now what happens if labor for a pregnant animal has been going on for too long?" asked Ekevu.

"You help deliver the child and give the mother plenty of hydrates especially water with some mango juice to help her stay strong," said Nasra.

"Very good, it looks like you can handle things on your own now, but if you do have problems there are finches who know about the shaman's location and can contact me," said Ekevu.

"Yes sir, have a safe time sir," said Nasra.

Ekevu nodded and flapped his wings before flying off to leave Nasra in charge. Nasra watched him go and for the first time, she suddenly felt that she had butterflies in her stomach.

Nasra's nervousness was short lived though when she was able to help save an ostrich from choking on a seed, and the very next day was able mend a cheetah's injured paw. The cheetah spent the night with her too and she learned a lot of fascinating things on cheetah anatomy and that he had found a great concoction once for an upset stomach. Nasra put the idea in the back of her mind to tell Ekevu later.

So for three months she helped care for the land, doing things she had only been able to do on the sidelines and only loosing one animal after it had fallen down a gorge. It had hit its head very badly and she tried to save it but after a few days of mending and caring, the poor creature was found the next morning dead. It had died in its sleep and Nasra was glad it did not suffer too much.

Everything was going great for Nasra, she was glad she could help all the animals until one day when a big mob appeared at the tree she called home. She was awakened to all the animals yelling at her and she was a little nervous as to why at first but slowly she made her way forward.

"Is there a problem I can help you all with?" asked Nasra once she was able to silence everyone.

"The rains are late," said an angry kudu as soon as she finished her sentence.

"That happens sometimes, the rains can take a few months to actually arrive," said Nasra. The kudu was right though, the rains should have been here by now, but she knew she was not the creator of it and if the real creator did not want it to rain right now then there must have been a reason for that.

"But the waterholes are drying up and it seems to be more crowded than it should be, the crocodiles keep nibbling on my toes," said a hippo.

"But what am I supposed to do about it, I'm a shaman and shaman do not handle the weather," said Nasra.

"Ekevu did it once, and it worked," said a zebra.

"That's right, you can't forget something like that," said an elephant.

"Well Ekevu did not leave me instructions on how to create rain, I'm only a simple apprentice, I won't be a full shaman for another three years," said Nasra.

"Oh that's just a dumb excuse, Ekevu most likely gave you the formula, you just don't want to do it," said a very angry zebra.

"I'm serious, I really don't know. The simple solution is to stop worrying about it and it will come, maybe not today but maybe tomorrow or the next day, you'll see," said Nasra as she tried to bring their hopes up. But that only angered the animals further.

"We want rain! We want rain!" They all began to chant while Nasra tried her hardest to yell beyond them and say she could not, but they would not stop.

Nasra growled under her breath and made her way to Ekevu's private stash, a place she was never allowed to go to unless there was an emergency. Carefully she moved around his special concoctions until she came across a long gourd with notes on it. Ekevu's writing was often hard to decipher but with patience she could read what he had left.

"In case of drought this will bring the rain out," she read. "Hmmmm, nice use of poetry. To do this, pour the contents into a small bowl and …..add some …..what letter is that, is that an I or an F. I bet that's an F, a flinch of, oh wait an inch of Rhinoceros horn. Once mixed, throw in the air, rain will appear in less than an hour. "

Nasra made her way to the mixing bowl, while outside, everyone continued to chant that they wanted rain. She hoped that what she did would not anger Ekevu but this was something desperate and she knew that if she did not do anything, the animals would not leave her alone.

Quickly she poured the contents of what was in the gourd and then grabbed a small sliver of a rhino horn that was exactly an inch long. She mixed it together for a moment until she felt it was just right and then ran to a nearby branch where everyone watched.

"I have made rain," she said as she held up the bowl.

"Then where is it?" asked a giraffe.

Nasra said nothing but threw the mixture into the air. Everyone watched as the creation stayed in the air and then started to float away in the breeze. Everyone stood and waited.

"If I remember correctly, after Ekevu threw it, the rain took about an hour to arrive," said the elephant as he scratched his head with his trunk.

"Then we will go our own ways and if the rain does not come in an hour, we will be back to finish you off," said a hyena.

Everyone murmured in agreement and slowly walked away from the tree while Nasra breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully what Ekevu created really did create rain and that she would not be running for her life when nothing came down from the sky. She gave a quick glance up at it, it was still as blue as could be but she had seen storms come in the blink of an eye and hopefully that was the case. She then decided to remain at the tree for the time being and work on some potions while at the same time, watch the skies.

An hour passed and not a single drop of rain fell and before Nasra even had time to think about running, all the herds came running to her tree with angry voices. Nasra only stood at the highest most secure branch she could and stared down at them.

"You know an hour can mean something different to other people," she yelled.

"Well an hour should be the way it is for us, now get down here so we can pluck all the hairs off your body," said a jackal.

"But I thought I was your friend, I was the one who helped all of you get better, how can you turn your back on someone this important," said Nasra with nervousness in her voice. She hadn't felt this way in a while and now she felt ashamed to be the assistant to one of the greatest shaman in the land.

"Well this is more important now, many of us are sick because don't have enough water to drink," said a zebra.

Nasra sighed; nothing was going to stop them from trying to hurt her. She knew there was no way out of this and the only thing she could do was climb down and turn herself in before any of the animals tried to burn an important tree. Just as she was about to do so though, the wind suddenly picked up. She looked to where the wind was coming from and saw the clouds, dark and very promising.

"Wait everyone, do you notice the wind? Look in the direction of where it is coming from," said Nasra.

All the animals turned around and saw the dark clouds gathering toward them, and before anyone could say anything, the first drop of rain fell to the ground.

"Nasra was right, the rains are coming, we must celebrate," said a kudu.

Everyone agreed with the kudu and began to dance as the rain finally began to fall, at first it was a small drizzle, then a light rain, until finally it was a downpour and the rain soaked the ground with much needed moisture. Nasra sighed happily and let the cool rain fall on her before heading back down to the tree to do some business and practice some meditation.

It rained the rest of the afternoon, all through the night, all through the next day and for the next few days. And it did not slow down, it stayed a downpour and this began to worry Nasra, no rain had ever been like this, not since she was alive.

Not only did it worry her but the animals were complaining as well. They did not come in mobs though which was fine by her but they never seemed satisfied.

"The river has now turned into a giant lake, I had to turn my trunk into a snorkel and my skin is wrinklier than it should be," complained the elephant the one who seemed to complain the most.

"Well now you go by your real name, Tips Wrinkle," said Nasra saying his last name really loud, Tips hated his last name with a passion. Nasra could tell she hit a nerve because of how he scrunched his trunk up and swatted his tail around.

"Well just get it fixed," Tips said before he walked away in a huff. He hated being insulted even in the littlest way and it was just too much for him to handle.

For a few days Nasra searched for a concoction that would stop the rain but nothing in Ekevu's storage areas had anything like that. The animals were getting impatient too and there were rumors of drownings but Nasra had no idea if that was true.

Then one evening while Nasra was sitting in the tree meditating she suddenly heard a roar like a million wildebeests coming toward her. Nasra looked out the tree and saw a huge gush of water heading straight toward her. Nasra knew she had nowhere to run and quickly held her breath as the huge wave took her away. For a long time she was spinning out of control unable to breathe and wondering if she would ever see her tree again.

Finally she leapt out of the water, taking as much air in as possible. For a moment she floated there, breathing heavily and glad that she was alive. Finally she looked around her; the entire savanna seemed to be covered in water. That's when she saw many familiar animals including Tips.

"See what happens when you mess with Mother Nature," said Nasra loudly to Tips who only had his head out of the water.

Tips grunted. "We should have listened to you, Ekevu should have shown you first, I am very sorry we forced you, now what will Ekevu think?" asked Tips.

"I don't think he will be too pleased," said Nasra as she held onto a branch floating in the water and occasionally going under.

"You're damn right I won't be pleased," said a voice from above.

Nasra and Tips both looked up to see Ekevu hovering above them and looking very angry. He landed on top of Tips and stared Nasra in the eye.

"Did you do this?" asked Ekevu.

"Yes sir, but it was the animals faults they wanted me to create rain because it hadn't rained in so long, but I used your concoction so I don't know what went wrong," said Nasra looking at him worriedly.

"Did you add the pinch of rhino horn?" asked Ekevu.

Nasra stared at him embarrassedly, and Ekevu could tell that she somehow messed up. "I thought it said an inch," she said.

Ekevu slapped his head and said nothing before flying up in the air. For a moment he just hovered before finally pulling out a primary feather and a small vial of what looked like sand. He then dipped the feather in the vial and then lifted it into the air.

"Oh creator of rain I am sorry I asked for so much, please stop now before we all drown," Ekevu said as loudly as he could.

For a moment, nothing happened, until suddenly lightning struck the feather. Ekevu stood still as the lightning illuminated around him until there was nothing left of the feather. For a long moment Nasra and Tips waited, wondering why the rain was still falling until finally it began to die down until it was nothing but what it started with, a light drizzle, and slowly the sun began to come out.

Ekevu slowly fluttered back down to his apprentice and elephant and stared angrily at Nasra.

"Even if the animals threaten you there is a way to stop them to do that and it's much simpler than creating rain," said Ekevu.

"I'm sorry sir, if I did not do anything, you would have been left without an apprentice," said Nasra.

"That would have been terrible, and you are right about that, because you are a good apprentice and I know you will make a good shaman someday, it just takes time," said Ekevu in a soft voice. He could tell that being angry would not solve this problem and that it was best to remain calm, the problem would definitely be fixed.

"So how long before the water finally recedes?" asked Nasra.

"In a few days, for now let's go to that high point and stay there until then, and I know we will have to find some new ingredients for the concoctions," said Ekevu.

"Uh oh, I hope you are willing to donate some of your ivory Tips," said Nasra.

"Only if you don't kill me for it," said Tips with a grunt, he was now getting very tired from swimming but luckily he was nearing the high point where most of the animals were.

"What do you think I am? A human?" asked Ekevu seriously.

Both Tips and Nasra stared at each other and giggled.

And so the savanna was returned to its original glory in a few weeks, many of the animals apologized for their rude behavior to Nasra and Ekevu had to teach Nasra some new ways of helping the animals without harming them. Before long Nasra became quite an apprentice and was well known throughout the land. There are many more stories revolving around her as well, but of course those should be saved for another day.

* * *

"Ah lovely," said Simba as Kijani finished his story.

"Thank you Grandpa," said Kijani.

"So there are more stories with her in it?" asked Kali.

"Yes there are and one of them even revolves around Tips," said Kijani.

"Oh can you tell us about that one now?" asked Jelani as he jumped on top of Kijani clearly not tired even though it was past his bedtime.

"Maybe later, I think its time for you all to go to bed," said Kijani.

The cubs all looked sadly at Kijani and then at their mothers who all nodded in agreement. At first they all did not want to go to their mothers until Zuri let out a big yawn that caused the other three to yawn as well. Kijani chuckled as he watched the kids slowly fall asleep even though they did not look as tire as they did only a few minutes ago. He was glad to be there though, and he was glad to tell them his stories.

* * *

A/N: Man the last part with Kijani and the cubs seem to get really repetitive now, oh well I'll find a way to fix that in future chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this and yes Nasra will definitely be coming back in future tales, I actually kind of like her.

Nasra means Assistance

Ekevu means Intelligent

I also hope to update a lot more now that school is out but of course I work too so that can make it a little harder sometimes. But please review, I'm sorry if these things have gotten repetitive but I hope to try and make each one different for you all to like. Just two more chapters until the Simpsons make an appearance too so that should make it interesting.

Well that's all for now, see you all later.


	8. Kijani the Storyteller

It was late afternoon, the clouds had begun to part and the sun shone down on the wet savanna drying everything off. Kijani quietly stalked through the savanna feeling the dew hit his paws as he stepped on the moist ground. The cubs were actually taking a nap at the moment and he felt that this was a good time to do something he had wanted to do since he arrived home, visit Hawla.

He had thought about her a lot on his journeys before becoming a story teller, and once he found his purpose, his longing for her was not as strong, yet he did hope to see her again and see how she was getting along.

It did not take Kijani long to smell the scent of the Misty Land's border, it was a strong scent but a friendly scent, one that he knew was safe to go near. He began to cross the border but as soon as he did so he stopped short, for some reason he felt awkward to keep going and run into the pride. They probably would not even recognize him, especially since now he had a mane and Itimu was not the king.

Silently he sat there, watching the land as the sun set its warm rays on the ground, he could see the mist rising too, such a perfect name for the territory. Then he began to wonder if Dinari was nearby and if he could find Hawla for him, perhaps he could but then of course he would still be a strange lion wandering the land.

"I hear you're a story teller now," came a voice behind him.

Kijani twisted his ear toward the sound and then turned his head, there before him stood Hawla, much older now but still as pretty as he remembered her. Kijani gave a small smile but stayed put; he let her come to him.

"How did you know I was here?" asked Kijani as Hawla moved forward and sat in front of him.

"Dinari told me, he was patrolling this area not too long ago and decided to let me know, I should have not listened and waited to look surprised," said Hawla with a grin.

Kijani only chuckled as he stared back at Hawla with happy eyes, it had been so long he had forgotten how lovely she looked and she still seemed to have that seriousness she always showed while on that journey to rescue his sister.

"It's great to see you back, after that battle I kind of started to miss the mischievousness of the happy twin," said Hawla.

Hey Haidar is happy too," said Kijani.

"Yes but he's too serious to even want to play with, you on the other hand have a personality anyone would love though it takes a while for some," said Hawla.

"I guess that's true, but I have matured since we last met," said Kijani as he puffed out his chest making himself look important and not too slouchy.

"Those eyes tell me something different though," said Hawla who now had the look of smugness on her face.

Before Kijani knew it, Hawla was slowly circling him, rubbing up against him and whisking her tail on his chin. Kijani had to keep his cool though, under storyteller law, they could not have mates, they could be close to a female but not have too much attachment. The reason was because they were nomads and leaving a loved one behind to care for the cub was just not the right thing to do. Especially since the cub could never or even rarely see the father.

Kijani was going to explain this but Hawla had other ideas as she leapt away from him and stuck her rear end in the air, an invitation to play. Kijani hadn't really chased after anyone in a while and running around was definitely not forbidden. In the blink of an eye he was after Hawla through the long grass. They ran through puddles, jumped on boulders and stirred up the dew that was forming around the grass. By the time they had finished their game of chase, both where quite wet from the rolling around. Kijani's mane hung down his neck and chest making him look more scraggly than he was.

Hawla soon found a nice place under a tree that was a little drier and lay down panting from all the fun, Kijani lay a few feet from her smiling.

"So how does it feel to be a storyteller?" asked Hawla once she regained her breath.

"It was definitely a strange feeling at first, but over time, it just feels like its something I have done all my life. I love telling the tales, all the animals get so wide eyed and their jaws drop it makes me feel so satisfied," said Kijani.

"Can you tell me how it happened?" asked Hawla.

"I would love to," said Kijani without a second thought.

* * *

Hondo and I had been exploring, traveling, causing mischief, you name it we did it while out there in the wild blue yonder. And it was after a very exhausting adventure involving a lovestruck lion and her future mate that made me and Hondo realize that we weren't as young as we used to be and that one of these days we wouldn't get off as easily as we had. So we both agreed one evening that we should head back to our old family, find out if we were still needed and maybe do something important for a change.

For a week we traveled through the savannas of the south with quiet wonder the whole time. We kept wondering who was still ruling the Pride Lands and if any changes had come and we were so engrossed in our thoughts that I nearly tripped over a very old lion who was just lying out there in the hot sun.

"I'm sorry sir, are you okay?" I remember asking him.

For a moment he did not respond and both Hondo and I feared that he had died, until he let out a very sick and upsetting cough that made both Hondo and I shudder.

"Those gazelles aren't as slow as they used to be," he said as he slowly got up.

Both Hondo and I helped him up and once he was in balance, that's when we both noticed how skinny he was and we both knew we had to help him. Once we found him a nice cool spot for him to stay in both Hondo and I ran out to find some food for him. We caught a nice big zebra and shared a nice meal for him. For a few days he did not say a word to us, he just lay in the cave too tired to move, we would leave him water and food nearby and it would be gone by the time we both came back from wandering the area for a few hours. Hondo thought it would be better if we decided to keep going home and let nature decide the old lion's fate. But for some strange reason I felt connected to him and that I needed to stay with him until the time had come.

Well it was one rainy morning when I was awakened by a strange cry coming from the old lion, it sounded like gibberish at first but once I got closer I could hear the same words being said over and over by him.

"The scarred warrior sits with you and tells the tales, the scarred warrior sits with you and tells the tales," he would say.

It sounded like something bad was happening to him so I awoke him and when he opened those eyes I had never seen such a scared lion in all my life. His old grey eyes seemed to stare into my soul for the longest time, and it wasn't until Hondo came over to see what was going on that he spoke again.

"Tell me young one, what is your name?" he asked.

"Kijani," I said quietly.

Another long silence. "The scarred warrior!" he finally said.

Both Hondo and I looked at each other with confused eyes not sure why he was saying this and how it somehow related to his chanting.

"Yes sir, my name does mean warrior but I am no warrior, I am a terrible fighter," I told him.

"But my dream, I saw a lion just like you with that same scar and everything taking over the legacy, tell me how you received it," he said to me.

"There was a great battle over my Mother's land, the hyenas wanted to take over, they had first kidnapped my sister to use her for evil purposes but my friend and I saved her and brought her home. But the hyenas would not quit without a fight so a battle lasted for many days. On the final day, one hyena attacked me, I couldn't fight back and he gave me these scars," I told him.

Again he gave me that strange stare, it really made me uncomfortable and I ended up staring at the ground playing with some pebbles before he finally responded to what I had told him.

"Yes you are my successor," he said.

"Successor of what?" I asked.

"You my young lion will take my place as storyteller to all the lands," he told me.

For a moment I was shocked, it was the strangest thing I had ever heard someone say in my life, save for the time when Mahiri was drunk from all the fermented berries and had asked me what I thought of one berry he had named Berry Seinfeld. But I knew I had to be kind to this old lion and respond.

"But I do not know any stories," I told him.

"That is because I know them all and I am the one who will give them to you, it will take a few years but once I have told you them all, you will become the Storyteller of all the lands," he told me.

"But sir, don't you think there is someone better out there that can tell these stories better than I can?" I asked. I was still not sure about this and I suddenly started to feel very uncomfortable.

"But this is your destiny; the storytellers of the past have told me that it is your turn to tell the tales to those who want to hear it. Your description matches what the storytellers of the past have told me and if you walk away on this then all the stories will be forgotten and the world will become a little bit emptier," he told me in a very serious voice.

I don't know how long I sat there thinking about all this; I remember Hondo standing beside me trying to get me to move away from him so we could go home. To make matters worse, he was still staring at me almost like he wanted to put a spell on me if I said no. So I finally decided to humor him.

"Sir if you say it is my destiny then I will accept it, though I still think you have the wrong creature for the job," I told him.

The old lion only laughed at me before finally responding. "Your opinion will change soon young man, now listen carefully to my first tale for this tale is the one that will get you to change your mind, I know it did for me when I first found out about becoming a Storyteller from an old meerkat," he told me.

So I listened to the first tale which told of bravery, love, vengeance, and even a dash of supernatural, it was a story that only the storytellers can hand to each other, no one else can hear it, even Hondo had to leave the cave while he was telling me the tale. The story lasted three days and I stayed awake through all of it. Once it was over, I was so exhausted that I slept for a day and a half. During that sleep I had a dream involving myself running in a field toward a group of animals, I had never seen them before in my life, but the way I acted around them it was as if I had known them all my life.

"So Rasul has told you the first tale," said the meerkat that was the storyteller before Rasul.

"Yes sir, he has," I said.

"And are you willing to accept what destiny has called you to do?" asked an ostrich.

"I do," I said. I barely heard myself say this, it felt so weird, and my mind was made up in the dream whether I would like this or not.

"Then you must know the rules of becoming a storyteller," said a cheetah.

It was then that all the creatures parted revealing a mandrill, the first storyteller to ever be born. His name was Mugi and he shared the same description that many said Rafiki had that I almost wanted to call him that.

"So are you ready to hear the laws you must follow to become the Storyteller?" he asked in a deep yet calm sounding voice.

"Yes sire," I said quietly.

Mugi waved his stick and all the Storytellers of old began to chant for quite a while until Mugi began to speak.

"First the most important rule, never shun away a creature who wants to hear a story, even if you are busy with other things, drop what you are doing and tell it," he said.

"Even if I have an antelope by the throat I still do it?" I asked.

"That may be an exception but once you are done you must go to the creature and tell the story, even if the animal you have killed is being eaten by another creature, you can find a new one later," Mugi said.

I only nodded, it was a strange rule but it was one that had been passed down for centuries, in fact all of them had.

"Rule number two, you must be a nomad, you do not belong to any pride, you may stay with a pride for two and a half years if you need to but you must move on when that time is up, there are other creatures out there who want to hear your tales," Mugi continued.

"But what about the pride I was born into what if I want to settle down and have a cub?" I asked and I wished I would have never asked the question yet the answer would have come to me soon any way since it was another rule for all Storytellers.

"That's another rule you must follow, because you are a nomad you must not have a mate, you are a solitary traveler and having a cub means it will never or rarely see you. No cub should grow up without a father," said Mugi.

I felt like crying after I had heard this but I had to remain strong I could not quit now it was a destiny I had to follow no matter how painful it felt to never have a mate or a child of my own. But then I thought of Hondo.

"What about my best friend Hondo though, he has been with me through thick and thin, I would hate to abandon him," I asked.

Mugi thought for a long moment about this, he had never had a sidekick and the storytelling had traced thousands of years, was there a Storyteller who had a friend with him?

That's when a female jackal moved forward. "I had a meerkat sidekick when I was a Storyteller and you told me it was perfectly fine," she said.

Mugi gave a small grin. "Oh yes I remember your friendship well, you begged me to let you have a friend on your journey's and I don't see the harm in having a sidekick with you either Kijani, living a solitary life can get lonely when the want of storytelling is dry," said Mugi.

"So it's alright?" I asked.

Mugi only nodded and I gave a sigh of relief, I don't know what Hondo would have done without me, we had been through so much already, we could never part.

"The next rule is you may not fight in battles, your stories are too important and if you loose your life then the world has lost someone great," said Mugi.

This one I understood of course, I didn't want to try again any way since you know how I cannot do well in battle.

"And lastly, when you feel your age, search out the one to become your successor, telling all the stories takes a few years to get them all down and its important that your successor knows them all," said Mugi.

"Thank you sir, I will follow these laws as best I can," I told Mugi. Mugi nodded back to me and waved his stick again while everyone began to chant over and over.

At first the chanting was loud but soon it became softer and softer until I had no idea what they were saying. It was then that I awoke and found Rasul standing over me smiling.

"You are ready?" he asked me. I only nodded.

So for two years he told me every tale that was told by him, from stories involving lost loves, to stories about creatures wanting something more, to even stories involving humans who were either helping us fight powerful forces or were just searching for strange cures to save their tribe. I heard them all and not one I have forgotten, they are all planted into my mind.

It was about a week after I had heard all the stories that I found Rasul was not in the cave with me or Hondo. Hondo and I went out to search for him and I soon found him in a field of wildflowers, his eyes were closed and he had a smile on his face. His long search for someone to take his place had finally ended and he was now among the storytellers of old in the stars. We left him where he had passed away so he could become the grass.

Hondo and I then made our way through the savannas and I remember telling my first story, it was four days later and I was relaxing in the shade when a Rhino came up to me and asked if he could hear a tale about a Rhino. I have about ten stories with rhinos in them so I gave him his options; he decided to listen to one about how a rhino got stuck in the mud only to have an elephant rescue him by pulling on his tiny horn. But the elephant pulled so hard that his horn actually grew and that was why the horns are so long to this day.

It felt satisfying after telling those tales and I could not wait to tell more. The whole time too we traveled to the Pride Lands, but it took us two years to do so because we ran into so many creatures who wanted to hear tales. I think it was worth it because now I can see my brother become king, and I can at least enjoy your company for a few hours.

* * *

Kijani finished his small story with a grin; Hawla looked back at him looking at little upset at the fact that they could not love each other the way they wanted.

"Even though I cannot have a mate, I can still love you as a friend," said Kijani.

"I guess it's better than nothing," said Hawla with a sigh.

Kijani could tell that she was not happy with this and gave her a small nuzzle. "I'm sorry this had to happen, but I guess it was a destiny I had since I was born, nothing can change that now, even if I had to stop, I cannot because my successor is probably not even born yet," said Kijani.

Hawla thought for a moment she looked upset yet she seemed like she could get over it in time. "Now that I think about it, kids can be a pain in the butt any way, though Safiya was not too bad but you never know, the kid could end up like you," she said.

"Oh we wouldn't want that now would we!" laughed Kijani.

"At least we can still enjoy each others company," said Hawla as she rubbed up against Kijani, he quickly returned the gesture.

For a few hours both lay together in the shade, enjoying the afternoon coolness from the rain that replenished the earth. Kijani even told a short story to her that Hawla enjoyed immensely. Soon the sun began to fade behind the horizon and Hawla knew she probably had to get back to the pride and help with anything they needed. Kijani knew he probably needed to head back and hopefully return to Pride Rock by morning.

"Well come by and see me when you want to," said Hawla.

"I promise I will," said Kijani who then gave Hawla and big sloppy wet kiss on the side of her cheek. Hawla touched her cheek with her paw and gave a goofy grin.

"That was the best kiss of my life," she said.

Kijani, who had just started to walk away after he gave the kiss turned back to Hawla, smiled and said. "…..So far, yes."

* * *

A/N: If you don't know where that last line came from then well I guess your sense of humor is a lot different than mine. I know some of you will be unhappy about Kijani's predicament but I don't care, love stories don't have to have the same theme to it. So yeah that's a nice different chapter for you guys to enjoy. Please remember to review or at least read this story, I seem to be getting less and less views, which is kinda sad. I do hope to update again soon since summer is hear for me, but you never know, I do have a life sometimes outside of the computer. LOL

Mugi means wise one.

So in the manner of Mickey Mouse: See ya real soon!


	9. Conga's Really Stupid Tale

A/N: This chapter is dedicated for bdlywrttn. I thought it would be fun if her fursona and my fursona got into a fight and then see how the outcome would turn out. If it offends in any way I am sorry. Hope you all like.

* * *

The cubs had awakened from their nap only an hour after Kijani had left. Each one of them had hoped that Kijani would be there when they awoke so they could hear a story for the rest of the day. Jelani in particular wanted to hear something involving humans and while he ran around searching for his uncle he soon realized that he was not in the cave. Only his mother Azmera was in the cave, making sure they were not too scared waking up and seeing no one there.

"What are you doing?" asked Azmera.

"Oh just wondering where Kijani is," said Jelani truthfully.

"I'm afraid he went to see Hawla of the Misty Pride, he will not return until well after dark," said Azmera in a soft voice.

"Oh great so what are we going to do now?" asked Kali with a whine.

"Well the sun is out, the rains have stopped for a while, I would suggest you all go out and play, you may not get that chance again for a while," said Azmera.

Jelani stared at the triplets who all shrugged their shoulders, playing would be nice for a while, as long as they didn't think about stories they wanted to hear. So without another thought, Jelani lead the way out of the den to the bottom of Pride Rock, the triplets following behind.

But of course, as most lion cubs are, their minds tend to change a lot and after playing hide and seek for an hour, all four got bored and lay down in a shady spot wondering what to do next.

"Why don't we go to the water hole and learn how to catch the fish that swim there," said Zuri.

"But the crocodiles tend to try and catch us," said Asha.

Zuri slapped the back of her head, forgetting that tiny detail; those crocs really knew how to sneak up on them when they weren't looking.

"We could play King of the rock," said Jelani.

The triplets shook their heads. "That game is boring, you always push us around," said Kali.

"Yeah and last time you pounced on me and hurt my paw," said Zuri.

"Well I didn't mean to, maybe I could pretend to be Grandpa Simba and one of you can be Scar, and we could pretend that we are fighting to win back the Pride Lands," said Jelani as he moved around in a comical fashion, his claws unsheathed and baring his teeth.

"But you always want to be Simba, one of us should be Simba this time," said Asha.

Jelani was about to respond when he heard some commotion in the nearby bushes. The triplets stopped what they were doing as well and listened carefully to the sounds. It sounded like a bird was arguing with something. They all listened waiting to hear if there was some juicy gossip.

"I say you should have sung at a higher pitch," said the voice. That was when they all figured out who it was, Conga. But it was not just Conga, Mahiri her best friend and Kairu her mate were also there talking about the music they had produced earlier.

Jelani gave a sly smile to the girls who all knew what he was thinking. Quietly he began to stalk the majordomo until he was less than three feet away. He waited for just the right moment, and pounced.

A resounding squawk quickly filled the air.

The triplets all squealed with delight and ran over to find Jelani standing on top of Conga while her friends Mahiri and Kairu stood a few feet away, both trying to keep themselves from having a heart attack.

"I gotcha," said Jelani with a smirk.

"I can see that, now please get off me, I think you broke something," said Conga.

Jelani quickly jumped up while Conga felt around to make sure all her bones were in tact. Mahiri and Kairu both shook themselves of shock and stared at the cubs with anger in their eyes.

"Sorry Conga, we were just bored," said Jelani.

"But did you have to scare us like that, my goodness I think my feathers are whiter than they should be," said Kairu.

"But that's the whole point of pouncing, you have to be surprised while we attack," said Asha.

"Yeah then the game would be no fun," said Zuri.

Conga quickly snapped her back into place and then turned to the cubs who really did have the look of boredom on their face.

"I see Kijani left you four alone," she said.

"Yeah he ran off to see an old friend in the Misty Lands and we all wanted to hear a story for the rest of the day," said Zuri.

"We tried to play but it's just too boring right now," said Kali with a bored look on her face.

Conga stared at the four cubs, it was a thoughtful look but one that seemed to make her look that she was sizing them all up to eat them or something similar.

"How would you feel if I told you a story?" asked Conga.

The cubs looked at each other curiously for a moment wondering if they would agree with the idea or not.

"Well if you promise not to use rocks and tell really dumb stories like Grampa Simba then we will listen and compare you to Kijani," said Jelani.

"Oh boy don't you love critics," said Mahiri with a sarcastic smile.

"Compare me eh, well I bet I can give you a nice story for you all to enjoy, that can be just as interesting as Kijani's maybe even more," said Conga.

"Is it about birds with laser beams in their eyes?" asked Asha as she pointed to her eyes and went cross eyed.

"Ah no," said Conga a little confused by the question.

"Is it about birds finding a strange treasure and they become the kings and queens of birds?" asked Kali.

"Nope," said Conga.

"Is it about why Ostriches put their head in the sand?" asked Zuri.

"Nope," said Conga enjoying this silly question and answer game immensely.

"Is it about that time you went out to find that hawk and went on that crazy adventure with Mahiri and some other bird who I forgot the name of, because Mahiri already told us that story and truthfully after hearing that story we all agreed that you are actually quite mental," said Jelani.

Conga was about to respond until she realized what Jelani had just said, she then turned to Mahiri and glared at him while at the same time, Kairu was laughing hysterically.

"Hey I gave them the honest to goodness truth of that story, I did not add anything crazy," he said as he held his wings between his face.

Conga gave a big sigh and then turned to the cubs. "No I won't tell that story, but I will tell you a very silly story that happened to me back in my younger years before Kijani was born and I think Simba was still king, or Kiara was just about to become Queen, I can't remember its been too long. Would you like to hear something like that?"

The cubs all nodded, at least it was something.

"Then close your eyes and imagine this place being ruled by Simba, he was much younger then and so was I.

* * *

It was just a few weeks after the first rainy season and I had been sent on an errand to visit the nearby meerkat colony that Timon usually hung around in. Now I know you guys have been told about Timon, he was a very self centered meerkat at times, but still had one of those sweet caring sides that made you want to give him a big hug. So it was no wonder that at the time he had a little friend following him around.

Now this errand I had to run was not of particular importance, it was just to ask Timon's mother for her special Grasshopper cakes which Simba enjoyed immensely for some strange reason. She was getting on in years at the time so she had totally forgotten about making it. I did not mind any way I had no where else to go and it was nice to watch all the meerkats run around doing their chores. Except for Timon who was helping his mother make the cake since for some strange reason she had started confusing acacia leaves with poison oak.

So I sat outside waiting and before I thought about seeing if the two needed help, who should stop by but Myla, Timon's girlfriend or wife I really cannot remember any more this is really terrible, still I remember what happened so that is good.

Now since she was Timon's mate of some kind she had begun to show the signs of being around Timon too much, sleeping, acting like him and having a small pot belly. And for some strange reason, she did not like me very much.

"What are you doing here?" she asked me as she approached.

"Oh just waiting for Ma to finish baking that delicious grasshopper cake she makes," I said with a smile hoping it would rub off on her.

"Oh well you're blocking the entrance, I need to go ask him something," she said as she shoved me out of the way and into the dust. I landed face first in the sand and got quite a beakful of it in the process.

Now I was much younger than her so I was surprised by her attitude with someone as young as I was. I of course decided to let that be known.

"Child abuse! Child abuse!" I said as I pointed at her while still sitting on the ground.

Myla turned back at me and glared, I only grinned hoping to see if she would say sorry. But it was completely opposite; she walked back toward me and glared at me right in the eye.

"Well I see you finally admit that you are an immature little brat, just because you are the Kings majordomo doesn't mean you can do what you want, we animals like our privacy and we don't like it when others are snooping their noses into our business," she said getting as close to my face as she could which I found to be more rude than her pushing me out of the way.

"Hey I'm not like my father, I try not to snoop too much and the other animals in the valley usually tell me what's going on first," said as truthfully as possible.

"Uh huh yeah whatever," said Myla as she turned around and walked away.

Yup Timon sure rubbed off on her, I really did not like this attitude one bit and I knew there was something else that she did not like about me that made her be this way, so I decided to fight fire with fire. I had nothing better to do, I hadn't been in a big fight in at least a year, I think it was that long, I forget now. But you know how it is when you're young and full of spark, you just want to fight.

"Well I think you're a lazy, inconsiderate jerk who needs to lay off on the stink beetles, I can smell them from here," I said.

Myla stopped what she was doing and turned around and glared even bigger than the last time. Her eyes were wide and I think I saw some steam coming out of her ears.

"You just don't know how to quite do ya?" she asked as she got closer.

"Nope, I just find it amazing how much of a bully you are to ones who are much younger than you, I mean you didn't even apologize for pushing me and it……hurt my……feelings," is said as I acted like I was crying.

"Oh grow up ya sissy, I heard you couldn't even finish off what you went to destroy; now that's just sad. Did he push you down and call you names and you ended up crying for your grandpa to help save you, boo hoo," said Myla.

"Well at least I am accepted by everyone around me, not like you who didn't even fit in when you lived in your birth colony," I said. That seemed to have silenced her.

"Yeah well at least I have a boyfriend who loves me, you only have your daddy, and your nothing but daddy's little girl," said Myla.

"Ah but what about your parent's hmmmm? I bet it feels pretty darn lonely without them sometimes," I said.

"I can take care of myself," said Myla acting all tough as if it was no big deal but I knew she was hiding something.

"Oh I bet you miss them, and I bet they are all like 'its good that Myla is gone now we can focus on our lovely daughter Leela, look at her beautiful fur, Myla never had anything like that, and look at her beautiful eyes, Myla's were so boring and brown, these are blue and sparkly. And Leela hear smells so nice, Myla smelled like a dung beetle, oh yeah I'm so glad she is gone," I said doing the best impressions I could ever do. It seemed to work too because there were tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Oh yeah well I bet your mother before she died said 'oh its all Conga's fault, she did this to me and now I am nothing but horrible hawk fodder and I probably taste like crap. Oh why did Conga do this to me, why must I be in so much pain why can't I just die instead of having this ugly chick stand over me and cry like that, it was her fault and not mine. Owwie, I think I'm dead," said Myla who was actually doing quite a good impression of a dying animal, believe me it was good.

Of course because it was so good my eyes were starting to well up and we were both looking at us very angrily like we wanted to kill each other.

"Loser!" I said.

"Daddy's girl," she said.

Looo sah her!" I said slowly to make sure she got it.

"Anal dwelling butt monkey," she said.

Remember kids don't repeat these words, they are not nice and I will probably get into trouble if you guys repeat these.

"You do the cha cha like a sissy girl," I said.

"Well at least I'm slender enough to do it you flying pig," she said.

"Your mother was a hamster and your father was bald and fat," I said.

"Your mother's cookies sucked," said Myla.

"Your face is good enough for radio," I said.

Myla raised her eyebrows at first at a loss for words. "...I don't even know what a radio is so there," said Myla in a very loud voice that actually made everyone stop what they were doing and stare.

"Wow the last time I saw a mouth that big it had a fish hook in it," I said.

This finally got on Myla's last nerve and before I could even blink she was on me as we both began to get into a small fist fight that wasn't too bad but it was enough to leave a few bruises. It was also enough for a hawk looking for a yummy meerkat to fly down and investigate what were doing. It watched us for a moment before he finally cleared his throat loud enough for us to look over at him and stop what we were doing but not before Myla gave me a quick punch in the face while I wasn't paying attention.

"Is this a death match?" asked the hawk.

"No it's just to prove which one of us is better," said Myla.

"Yeah so I don't think you'll be eating us anytime soon," I said while touching a tender area near my beak.

"And what are you two better at?" asked the hawk.

"Being nice," I said.

"Uh huh, so it's not a death battle?" asked the hawk.

"Nope sorry," Myla said.

"Though I hear she is really good with a salad and if you cook her rump long enough it will be so tender you will be chewing for days," I said in his ear of course Myla heard this.

"Oh yeah well I heard her wings go great with honey ants," said Myla.

"Oh yeah well your thigh is so full of fat you come with your own gravy," I said.

"I hear your brain is extra jelly like," said Myla.

"Oh I heard yours was because of how stupid you are," I said.

"Oh yeah well I think this hawk should eat you since you are ever so smart," said Myla.

By now we were pointing at each other and telling the hawk which one he should eat and why. The poor hawk though just wanted to find a descent meal that didn't talk and called each other names like we did.

"Uh you know I think I will just pass on a meal today, and maybe go find myself a mongoose," he said.

"Oh you wouldn't want one of those, they are tough and gamey, I hear meerkat is easier to swallow," I said.

"But I saw her eat a hundred ants in one sitting so I really think you should eat her, besides its not my season right now, tis the season for hornbill," said Myla.

"Deck the pride lands with meerkat tendons, fa la la la lalalalalala," I sang.

"See this birdies tasty drumstick fa la la la lalalalalala," sang Myla as she showed the hawk one of my legs.

"Now look at this lovely hunk of shoulder, fa la la la lalalalalalalalaala!" I said as I pinched Myla in the shoulder before she swatted me with her paw somehow knowing I was going to do the sleeper hold on her.

"I hear that feathers are easier to digest, fa la la la lalalalalalalalaala!" sang Myla as she pulled a feather off my back.

"I just realized I'm not that hungry," said the hawk and quickly flew away before any more crazy schemes occurred.

Of course Myla and I were still going at it, but just when we were about to beat each other up again, Ma came up from her cooking and presented me with the grasshopper cakes.

"Now tell Simba not to eat them all in one sitting, he might get sick," said Ma.

"Thank you Ma, I will see you later, just keep this mutilated meerkat out of my sight when I do," I said.

"Yeah make sure you tell me she's coming so she won't land on me," said Myla.

"Are you calling me fat?" I asked as I stared her in the eye.

"Yeah you're a big flying pig," she said.

"Takes one to know one," I said before deciding it was best to fly away because that argument could last forever.

As I was flying off though, Myla was still singing a song to me that went like this.

"Flying pig!

Flying Pig!

Does whatever a flying pig does!

Can she land without a sound?

No she can't she's really fat

Lookouuuuuttt there goes the flying pig!"

Hopefully the next time I saw her I would sit on her for saying that remark, for now Simba wanted his grasshopper cakes and that was what I was going to do. I thought that maybe next time I would win that argument. But all the next times she kept winning even until she died of old age, I know she is up there with Timon making fun of me as often as possible and when I finally get up there, I hope to give her the biggest insult imagined. So big in fact that I still have no idea what that is.

* * *

Conga finished her crazy story and stared at the cubs. They were all staring back looking extremely weirded out.

"So was I as good as Kijani?" asked Conga.

"Jelani is right, you are mental," said Zuri.

And without another word, the cubs walked away from the little group to go play hide and seek. It was better than listening to a crazy old bird any way.

* * *

A/N: Yeah that was all add libbed and that was kind of fun, I hope Bdlywrttn doesn't get mad though. And yes I know it was stupid but I had to do something silly before my next four chapters. The Simpson's are finally coming into my story, it will be four chapters long and I can't wait to start. I will probably only get one more chapter in too before I go on vacation starting July 10th which will last until the 21st. But you never know things can change.

Okay some big things that I've noticed. The last update was on June 6th, exactly one year since A Shattered Prophecy was completed which was June 5th 2007. I found that kind of cool. June 6th was also the date Kung Fu Panda came out. Awesome movie if you have not seen it by the way.

Also today June 19th is Garfield's 30th birthday so go to the funny pages and have a yummy cake with him. And another cool thing about today June 19th, exactly ten years ago, in 1998, Mulan made her debut in theatres. Yay for Mulan! So yeah lots of cool things to celebrate.

Well please remember to review and I hope the next chapter will be better, I seriously apologize for the stupidity, it might happen again. Oh well you need some stupidity in your lives, see you later.


	10. Lisa the Lion Part 1

A/N: Okay now its time to start my semi crossover with the Simpson's. As many of you know I do not own the Simpson's, they are Matt Groenings property and I respect that because he is an awesome guy. So on with the story.

* * *

Kijani did not return from his short time in the Misty Lands until later the next morning, quite exhausted and very much ready for a nap. He had traveled all night and had thought he would reach home later that night as well, but he had forgotten how far the lands were from the Pride Lands.

Of course the cubs were very happy to see him, but before they could even pounce and ask for a story, Azmera and Naima quickly scooted them out to let the storyteller sleep after such a long journey. Even Hondo, who had actually been hunting with his old pack, returned and fell asleep right next to his old friend.

He awoke several hours later feeling quite refreshed and slowly made his way out of the den with Hondo to get a drink of water. A storm was on its way too and Kijani knew the cubs would run into the den for safety and want to hear a story. It was something to always expect in the late afternoon of the den.

Quietly they made their way to the waterhole and took a quick sip before hearing a branch snap from behind a rock. Kijani looked at Hondo who gave a quick snort pretending he did not hear anything. Kijani only gave him a quick grin before taking a few more sips of water. They knew who it was but they both decided to let the cubs feel as if they had really not been known yet. Once Kijani finished quenching his thirst, he slowly made his way over to the rock while Hondo stayed were he was to watch.

"I know you four are there, your sneaking skills have yet to be acquired," Kijani said with a chuckle.

The four cubs peeked out from behind the rock, but they weren't the only ones, Layla the hyena cub was also with them looking at him curiously.

"Ah perhaps five of you then," he said.

"Dad said he has had enough of me talking about you all the time so he sent me to see you but Jelani said you were sleeping, so I decided to wait, best not upset my dad," said Layla with a sheepish grin.

"Looks like you have a fan club there 'Jani," said Hondo.

Kijani laughed, the elders of the pride often told them to give Kijani space from time to time but of course that was easier said than done. The cubs were always ready to hear something new.

"Well I don't see what harm it would be if you came back to Pride Rock with us there Layla, your father said you could come any time you wanted," said Kijani.

"Yeah but usually I have to help baby-sit," said Layla making an annoyed face at the idea of watching over the cubs who were only a few months younger than her.

"Well don't worry about doing that tonight because you are welcome to come and join us for a story," said Kijani.

Layla only smiled as she followed her new friends behind Kijani and Hondo as they led the way back to Pride Rock for the evening. Just ahead of them, dark storm clouds began to form and Kijani knew that this was definitely the best time to start a story, there was no telling how long this storm would last quite yet.

Once they reached the cave, Kijani made his way to a round platform that he had just started using for telling the stories and sat down on it while the five cubs and Hondo circled around him.

"Now is there anything in particular you would like to hear?" asked Kijani.

The cubs looked at each other wondering who would be the first to respond to that. After a quick moment's hesitation, Jelani moved forward.

"When I was only two and a half months old, the girls were a bit older, my mother and Naima gave us a lecture about the humans that live in the valley after one of the lioness's came home and informed us that her sister had been killed by a human's spear. They told us that they were very dangerous and that we should never go near them, they don't even come to ceremonies or any special gatherings that goes on with the land, yet they are animals like us," said Jelani.

"That is very true yes, they are definitely creatures that keep to themselves it is very rare to see them form an alliance with us," said Kijani.

"Have there been stories that tell of humans forming alliances with us and never hurting us?" asked Kali.

"There are a few stories yes, there is one in particular that stands out among the rest about a family of humans living with a pride for a few weeks because of a strange prophecy one of the humans had to fulfill," said Kijani.

"What kind of prophecy was it?" asked Layla.

"One that decided the fate of the lands around them, either the land will become good or the land will become evil," said Kijani while at the same moment, thunder began to rumble outside.

"Why did the humans have to fulfill this?" asked Asha.

"It's actually explained in the story so I think its best that I start it from the beginning, this will be quite a long story, one of the longest I have so we might have to do an intermission until tomorrow morning, but we will find out. As for the beginning, its best you listen carefully," said Kijani as he began his tale.

* * *

Humans are definitely a strange race, to many they look and act like naked chimpanzees, the adults can be as wild an as ferocious as a silverback gorilla, yet the children can be as harmless or as playful as the macaques. Though even though they say many are the distant cousins of these monkeys they still keep to themselves though at a higher risk than most creatures.

They travel the world and they learn very fast, unlike other creatures who learn slowly and take their time doing it. But like all creatures, some will look on an individual as silly, kind, or even called the biggest idiot on the planet.

Homer Simpson, the father of the hero of this story, had two of those characteristics, which ones I will not say exactly but you can figure out for yourself in time. Being the Patriarch of the family he was the one who usually came up with different ideas on what to do with the family and choosing a trip to Africa was one of his ideas, one that his daughter Lisa was most excited about.

Lisa was the quiet one, usually off by herself, she was the one in the family who loved animals and was usually the one who wanted to go to a zoo or museum while her father and her brother Bart would much rather have a good time at a monster truck rally. (Whatever that is)

Her mother Marge usually just followed along with the crowd, usually she stayed home too, cleaning the place and making a big dinner for everyone when they got home. She did join them on the trip to Africa but only with great reluctance and decided it was best to leave their youngest named Maggie behind with her sisters.

So far the family had only been on their trip for a day and already a lot of things had happened. Homer got into a fight with the rental car company for making him drive a small car at an outlandish price, Marge had to actually intervene and tell them that the price was fine. Bart thought it would be fun to get monkey brains for dinner only to faint at the near sight of it when it came his way. The hotel they stayed at that night was not as glamorous as they thought, the windows had been left open and mosquitoes were flying in every direction and biting them throughout the night. And of course the continental breakfast the next morning consisted of a very strange looking omelet with bugs inside of it. Bart of course liked it but the rest of the family decided to pass up on the meal.

But once the exploring began everything began to look up, Marge and Lisa both decided to go down the market street to find some fascinating African style clothing and the like. Bart and Homer of course followed but they were not as interested as they were and only followed along like ducklings with a mother duck.

It was at one particular vendor though that caught Lisa's eyes as she shopped around. This vendor sold many necklaces that had beautiful gemstones set on them each ranging from the clearest of quartz to the darkest amber. Lisa was fascinated by all of them until she came to a particular necklace hidden in a small corner.

It was a red Jasper in the form of an oval but at the top, bottom, left, and right it was carved to look like small triangles. The grooves formed different colors swirled around to make it look like the side of a snail shell until they ended at the middle to reveal a beautiful blue moonstone that shone brightly even under the shade. Lisa stood there mesmerized. She had never seen anything so beautiful. She held it up while the vendor watched her for a moment and then spoke.

"That my dear is a very rare piece of Jasper, it was found on the Nile River by a nomad who had wanted to put something together with his moonstone," said the merchant.

"It's so beautiful, why wouldn't the nomad keep something so beautifully made?" asked Lisa.

"I asked him the very same question when he gave it to me, he told me it was meant for someone else and that whoever acquired it would have very good luck," said the merchant.

Lisa continued to stare a the beautiful stone, for some strange reason she felt that it was calling to her, telling her to take it and become the person who needed it most. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by her father who jumped out of nowhere with a ceremonial mask.

"Hey Lisa, look, I'm Tarzan!" he said enthusiastically. Lisa jumped with surprise.

"Geeze Dad, way to spoil my thinking," said Lisa who glared at her father.

Sorry honey, what did you find?" asked Homer as he took off the mask to look at what Lisa was holding.

"Isn't it beautiful Dad?" asked Lisa as she held it in front of him.

Homer of course was not the kind of person to be asked the question on whether or not something was beautiful but he was very good at humoring his own daughter and quickly agreed with her.

"Its very nice sweetie," he said.

"Can I get it? I haven't asked for anything else and I really like this" said Lisa.

Homer thought for a moment as he stared into Lisa's hopeful eyes, the same eyes that won him over in numerous other occasions. It was always so hard to say no.

"Sure I'll get it for you, just don't ask for anything else today," said Homer.

"Promise," said Lisa holding up her hand as if she was at a witness stand.

Homer only smiled as he paid the nice merchant for Lisa's new necklace while Lisa quickly put the necklace on, admiring it for its beautiful color and shape. Even Marge was amazed by its beauty when Lisa finally found her. It was the most talked about item on the way back to the hotel too, even more than Bart's giant scorpion under glass.

The day was still young though by the time the family went back to the hotel for a nap. Lisa was in no mood for one and only stared at the window admiring the beautiful African Savanna. Even though the room was air conditioned and it was nice and cool in there, Lisa suddenly felt a longing to go out and explore, her parents had already planned an evening at a nice place to eat so exploring was not going to be planned for the day, she wondered though if she could go out there by herself and be back before dinner. She turned to her parents, who both looked to be asleep but knowing her mother, she was probably only nodding off.

Quietly she made her way over to Marge and gently nudged her. Marge let out a small grunt before looking up at Lisa.

"Lisa, can't you see I'm napping?" said Marge.

"I know mom, I just can't sleep, I want to explore, can I go do that, I promise I'll be home for dinner," said Lisa.

Marge gave a short murmur before finally responding. "Just be back for dinner, and don't get too dirty," she said.

Lisa jumped up happily and quickly ran out the door not even looking back to see if Bart had heard the conversation and wanted to join her. But Bart had not followed and Lisa was ready to have a nice afternoon to herself for a few hours. She had always wanted to watch herds move about on the savanna and she hoped that maybe she could see a baby animal or two.

It didn't take her long to be on the outskirts of town, as soon as she left the hotel she was instantly in the savanna staring out into the wide open range where all the animals lived in harmony and peace from humans. Carefully she walked in the grasses stirring up a few birds that quickly took to the air which of course stopped a small herd of gazelle in their tracks as they watched and wondered what the strange two legged creature was doing out in the savanna. For a moment both human and animal watched each other, the gazelles would wiggle their noses trying to find Lisa's scent while at the same time they would move their big ears back and forth listening for sound. It was quite comical to Lisa who let out a small chuckle which was enough for the gazelle to run away as fast as they could.

Lisa only shrugged it off before moving on again and soon finding herself at a waterhole. There were a few animals there enjoying a cool refreshing drink, including a family of zebra and one lone giraffe. There was also a crocodile in the middle of the pool but he did not seem too concerned with anything around him.

Lisa sighed and decided that this would be a great place for her to sit under a tree and relax for a little while as she watched the animals come and go to get a drink. She found a nice spot that was not too close to the water in fear that she might scare the creatures off and she was just about to sit down when she heard what sounded like a dog growling.

She looked around until she found the source; only twenty feet behind her stood a black back jackal, its teeth bared and looking quite angry.

"Oh is this your spot to watch the animals?" asked Lisa nervously.

The jackal continued to growl as it moved closer, she knew it must have never seen a human before and was probably trying to scare her away. It seemed to be working too because Lisa slowly backed off but the jackal continued to inch closer.

Lisa did not like the looks of this and quickly started to run hoping that it would be enough to satisfy the jackal, but that was not it. Lisa quickly turned around and saw that the jackal was right behind her. Lisa screamed and ran as fast as her small legs could carry her.

But Lisa was not the best runner and she was quickly loosing momentum before she realized that she could never outrun the jackal. She soon found a tree that she could easily climb on and reached as high as she could go while the jackal stayed down on the ground growling and trying its hardest to get at Lisa but with very little success. Lisa clung to the tree tightly, hoping the branch would stay up and that she would not fall and be killed by the evil creature. Worse yet, she hoped that it would give up soon and she would head home safely.

But she didn't have to stay up there long for a few minutes later; a strange baboon suddenly appeared and kicked the jackal heavily in the side. The jackal was unfazed and only growled.

"She is no meal for you; now go find a dead mouse!" Lisa stared at the baboon with surprise, did she really just say that or did she imagine it.

She watched as the jackal continued to growl at the baboon before the baboon took the stick she was holding in her paw and whacked the jackal hard on the head with it. The jackal yelped in pain before finally putting its tail between its legs and running off through the grasses as fast as its legs could carry them.

"Yeah get out of here you scavenger!" said the baboon again.

Lisa slowly went down the tree staring at the baboon the whole time and wondering if she was only hallucinating. The baboon heard her climb down and turned toward her, watching her go down the rest of the way. Once Lisa was at the bottom, both human and baboon stared at each other for a moment. The baboon was not young but certainly not old, probably nearing the end of her prime, but still in a very tough shape.

"If only we understood each other, I would say thank you," said Lisa after a long pause.

"And if you understood me, I would say your welcome," said the baboon.

Lisa gasped in shock at first unable to say anything. "But I CAN understand you!" she finally said.

The baboon stared at her for a moment, she studied her long and hard until she finally saw the necklace Lisa was wearing. Was it the very same necklace she, while disguised as a nomad, had given to a human vendor years ago?

"How can I understand you?" asked Lisa nervously.

"I am a special shaman, I have been able to speak the voices of humans and other animals since I was younger than you were. Now tell me where did you get that necklace?" asked the baboon.

"I got it from a street vendor this morning, why?" asked Lisa.

The baboon gave an excited smile and waved her stick in the air in a manner than Lisa had seen many times before in zoos, only this time she understood why she was doing so.

"The prophecy is finally being fulfilled, of course it's both good and bad, but finally we will know what will become of the land in a short time," she said.

"Uh excuse me?" asked Lisa obviously very confused.

"Oh I'm sorry please forgive me, I knew you would have no idea what I was talking about so let me explain. First I must introduce myself as Ramla and who might you be?" asked the baboon.

"Uh……Lisa," said Lisa still a little nervous about what was going on.

"Good to meet you Lisa, now follow me to that baobab tree over there, and I will tell you what's going on," said Ramla.

For a moment Lisa only stood there, unsure if she could trust this strange creature she had never met before. Would she harm her in any way? That's what Lisa was most concerned over.

"Well aren't you coming?" asked Ramla with a very friendly smile.

Lisa gave a short smile back; baboons were usually more dangerous than this and especially could not talk. Trusting her was probably the best option.

Lisa soon reached the tree and Ramla helped her up the trunk to where she could sit and listen. It was Ramla's home and Lisa could tell by the many gourds and other things shamen used.

"Now then, I'm guessing you want to know before you get too impatient," said Ramla as she set her stick down and sat in front of Lisa.

"Very much so," said Lisa a little nervous but still very interested.

"Now when you saw that necklace, did you feel that you had a connection with it?" asked Ramla.

"I did, I was just looking at all the pretty necklaces the vendor was selling but then my eyes caught this one. It was so beautiful and the vendor even told me that if I did take it I would have good luck," said Lisa.

"Ah he quoted what I told him, very good," said Ramla.

"You told him, but how, wouldn't he have found it strange that he was talking to a baboon just the same way I feel right now?" asked Lisa.

"He would have, but I was in disguise that time, I was a human nomad, I have the power to turn myself into one," said Ramla.

Lisa stared at Ramla in a very confused look, all of this did not make sense and she was starting to worry about going home, Marge was probably wondering where she was.

"But why am I meant to take this?" asked Lisa before being hit on the head by Ramla's stick.

"Patience young one, you humans are all the same, no patience, you all act as if you are all going to die right then and there if nothing happens to you right away," said Ramla with a small growl.

"Sorry," said Lisa as she rubbed her head.

"What I am about to tell you is all true, it happened to the lion pride that lives here, I help them from time to time and they come to me for guidance. I believe it was five years ago when King Latif first stepped up to become king after his father died. He was much younger than, full of spirit and ready to tackle anything that was thrown at him. But he wasn't prepared for his brother's return. Dajan was his name and he had left the pride at only a year old saying he had no interest in becoming king of just one pride, but of every lion that he could become the leader of. He believed that he could create a better society, one ruled by him and small band of second in commands who dealt with those who did not follow his orders."

"It had been a week since Latif became king when Dajan arrived and ordered him to surrender his kingship. Latif would have none of this and ordered him to leave, Dajan did but only for a short while, he returned four days later with a band of young males and some jackals telling him once again to surrender or die. Latif, still being young and spirited decided to fight, there were many casualties. Dajan ended up loosing the fight with his tail between his legs but not before declaring that he would return again one day to create what he had dreamed of. He said that in five years time, he would return when the next full moon occurs and he would have what was his by the blood of the one with the blue stone. And once that happens no one can stop him."

Ramla finished her tale and Lisa was now sweating with worry. The blood of the one with the blue stone was her and she did not like the sound of it at all.

"So you want him to kill me?" asked Lisa with a scared voice.

"No I don't want him to kill you. Don't worry there is more to this tale than that. After hearing what Dajan had said, I meditated for three days straight to find out if there was a side plan for all this. What the prophecy says is that a young human girl with hair as bright as the sun and a spirit like a bull elephant's will bring the moonstone, but I was the one who had to find it first and set it in the other stone, give it to another human, and have you find it or Dajan would end up finding it and everyone would be doomed. Now that you have it, you must keep it on you at all times, if anyone tries to take it from you you must resist. And when the moon is full, which will happen in a fortnight, you must take it to that canyon over there, point it up at the moon where it is shining brightest, and watch as the spirits decide how to dispose of Dajan. No blood will be spilled that way, as long as Dajan is not there to stop it from happening."

"But I'm supposed to go back home in a week, I don't think my parents will appreciate me wanting to stay longer for a prophecy, they won't even believe me," said Lisa.

"Don't worry you will have to leave that one to me as well, for you will not be coming home tonight or the next until the prophecy is fulfilled," said Ramla

"So I have to stay with you the whole time, in this uncomfortable tree?" asked Lisa.

"Oh don't worry about that, you will be in much better hands or paws I should say, I will be taking you to King Latif and his family and you will be disguised as a lost lion cub. Well Latif and his mate Halima already know about the prophecy since I have told them everything but not the rest of the pride so they will take good care of you," said Ramla.

"But how will you explain this to my parents, especially to my father who is like a wet match in a dark cave?" asked Lisa.

"Now now, don't say such things about your elders like that. It may seem that your time with them is long but that is until you end up loosing them. Always tell your parents you love them even if they are like whatever you just said," said Ramla.

Lisa put her head down, just this morning she was planning her trip to see all the fascinating sights of Africa now her life was at stake to save a pride she didn't even know. She was now scared and started to cry. Ramla saw this and patted Lisa on the head.

"Don't worry if the prophecy says you have spirit like a bull elephant then you will not fail, just as long as you keep your hopes up. And I know you have no idea who these lions are, but if you think about it, this could affect the human race later on down the road, and we would not want that now would we," said Ramla.

Lisa only shook her head. Her mind seemed to tell her that this was not a good idea and to run, but her spirit seemed to tell her to do what the monkey said. She was now torn between two things.

"Lisa, I know this is a hard decision, and I know it will upset your parents when you don't come home for them. But I have seen you in my meditations and I have watched you help many animals in your time, and I know you can help these lions too. The prophecy will never change not as long as you are out here and wearing that necklace," said Ramla.

Lisa looked down at her necklace, such a simple little stone was now something of power, a power that she did not realize she had and a power she seemed to not want.

"Can I think about it?" she finally asked.

Ramla sighed, thinking was always the best option and if Lisa didn't want to do it then Dajan would be vying for power until he died. It was a hard thought to think about but one that she would probably have to accept.

"You may, if you don't return, I understand," she said.

Lisa nodded and slowly made her way down the tree back toward the hotel, holding the necklace as she made her way through the grasses. It was when she reached a hill where it overlooked the city that she stopped. She suddenly noticed the hustle and bustle, the dangers and over crowding of the city and a place where humans never seemed to care about the environment. She turned around and faced the savanna; it was quiet and wide open, a place of solitude and serenity. But her parents were not there that was the only problem, but Ramla said she would handle them in due time, perhaps they would join her and help settle this strange prophecy.

Ramla stood alone by her tree, looking down at some termites that would make for a good dinner later that afternoon when she heard a voice calling her name. She looked up and said Lisa running at her as fast as she could.

"What is it child?" asked Ramla.

"I've decided to join the pride," said Lisa.

Ramla only gave her a big smile before lifting up her stick high in the air and chanting the spells that would turn Lisa Simpson into a lion.

* * *

A/N: Long chapter is long. I apologize for the length, I fear MinisterSweetGoodKids chapters are rubbing off on me, that kid has long chapters let me tell you, but they are good chapters. Any way I hope that all made sense to you and I hope you all enjoyed that. I really wanted to try this and see how Lisa would fare as a lion and her parents too in a few chapters from now. I ended it without Kijani just because I felt he wasn't needed in the end saying random things with the cubs, you will hear from him again soon. Also I have extended the chapters to five, not four like I originally intended. There's just a little bit more that I will be getting to shortly.

Now I may or may not update again next week, it all depends on my work schedule, it's been busy lately and I've been exhausted from it, but at least I'm getting paid for it. That being said I will be going on vacation from July 10th thru the 21st so no updates or reviews until then. I do have internet access but I think I'll be too busy to sit down and read peoples work. Sorry about that. But hopefully once I get back I will have time for all of you and have some fun with you guys again. Oh yes and name meanings

Ramla: Prophet

Dajan: Dark Sky during heavy rain

Latif: Gentle

Halima: Gentle and Kind (oops I just realized they had the same name meanings oh well, I like it.)

Well don't forget to review and to my American friends, have a safe and fun July 4th.


	11. Lisa the Lion Part 2

The jackal who had chased Lisa up the tree was now running as fast as he could through the savanna toward a rocky canyon area, a place where many carnivores hid when they did not want to be found. Dajan was in there somewhere, he had been in there for the past two months waiting for any signs of the girl with the moonstone.

The jackal would have run right by Dajan if Dajan had not seen him first and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck just as he was passing. The jackal let out a loud yelp before looking up at the eyes of the evil lion.

"Why are you in such a hurry Samir?" asked Dajan in an icy cold voice. Samir instantly cringed.

"Ah Sire, I thought you would be hidden away in that chasm over there," said Samir with a hint of nervousness in his voice and he had good reason too. Dajan was all muscle for a rogue lion. His fur was a very dark brown while his mane and tail were a very dirty gray, some parts fully black. His eyes were a piercing green and his smile was enough to make anyone back down with fear.

"Nah that place was too gloomy, I like this spot, I can stalk my minions," he said with an evil grin.

Samir gulped again almost forgetting the reason he came running into the rocky area in the first place.

"So what is your reason for running in here so fast?" asked Dajan as he unsheathed his claws and slowly brought one up to Samir's face just to scare him a little.

"She is in the land sire, I tried to capture her, but Ramla stopped me before I could" he said as he tried his hardest to back away but was stopped by a rock.

"She is is she? But Ramla got her before me, a shame really, but no worries I have two weeks to find a way to capture her myself. Her blood is not important until then any way. I would have loved to torture her but that can always be saved for later," said Dajan as he put his claws back in.

"But what about your brother?" asked Samir.

"My brother? I think I can find a way to capture the child without him knowing, of course the prophecy did say her father is the one to worry about," said Dajan.

"What do you mean sire?' asked Samir.

"Well you know how fathers are, always protecting their children from certain doom, perhaps I can find a way to lure him in a trap," said Dajan.

"Maybe it won't happen, maybe he won't come to find her," said Samir.

"Not when Ramla's involved, I would try to destroy her but that's impossible, she's too smart for anyone," said Dajan as he began to pace back and forth, wondering how he could get Lisa without any problem.

"Too bad it's only two of us," said Samir.

Dajan turned around and looked at Samir who had obviously not paid attention to his remark and was now biting at a flea that was somewhere on his hindquarters.

"I like your thinking Samir, are you still close with your pack?" asked Dajan.

"Oh yeah, I just don't live with them I'm not a real big fan of crowds, plus I have great health benefits with you," said Samir with a grin.

"Yes I guess that is true, then do you think you can bring them to me, I believe I have a plan that they can help me with," said Dajan.

"Oh what is it sire?" asked Samir.

"If you get them for me, you will know in time," said Dajan with a grin.

Samir gave a quick wag of his tail and without a second thought turned and ran out of the cave, while Dajan gave an evil laugh that echoed through the rocky walls.

* * *

"Oof, these four legs are harder to walk on than they seem to be," said Lisa after she had tripped over her back legs and fell face first into the dirt. She was no longer an eight year old human girl but an eight month old lion. Her fur was a lovely golden brown and on her paws, stomach, and tail tuft, her fur was a light grayish color. Her blonde hair was still the same, though it did not stick out as far and were mainly just little tufts on top of her head. Her necklace was still around her neck as well and it was on tight enough to be kept from coming off easily.

"Yes it does take some getting used to and you will walk like a month old cub at first but don't worry it will be as natural as breathing," said Ramla as she helped Lisa up.

Lisa tried to move forward again, lifting her right leg up and moving forward with her left and then lifting her front left leg and then her right. It worked for a few strides before she tripped over herself again making Ramla help her up once more.

"Don't try to go too fast at first, you might break something and we don't want that, plus you are a cat now, cats walk with both left legs forward then both right legs forward, they sort of stride," said Ramla.

"It's definitely harder than it looks," said Lisa.

"You were doing fine that last time, just go slowly and do what I just said until you have it all figured out, then you will learn how to run," said Ramla.

Lisa looked down at her paws; it was so strange seeing her body like this now and was unsure if what she was doing was ever going to work. She tried again only more slowly like her old grandfather. First her front left leg moved forward, then her back left leg while her right front leg moved back along with her right back leg. It was a long practice and she fell down the first few times but after about two hours, she finally got the hang of it and was running through the grass with reckless abandon before coming to a stop in front of Ramla who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Now you are ready to meet the pride," she said.

The pride was situated quite far from any sign of civilization, Lisa could not blame them though, it was safer than dealing with humans who were more worried about their livestock. Their den was situated on a group of rocks that looked as if a bulldozer had just left them there, the biggest rocks stuck out high into the sky and a few others were laid flat a good place to watch for danger from and that was exactly what King Latif was doing. He saw Ramla and let out a small roar that made everyone in the pride pick up their heads and look in Ramla's direction.

Lisa stood behind Ramla still a little nervous about meeting an actual lion; Ramla would protect her if anything went wrong. Lisa watched behind Ramla as Latif approached, striding over with a curious look on his face, not an angry one.

"Good afternoon Ramla," said Latif.

"Good afternoon Sire, how is your pride?" asked Ramla.

"They are well, Kahfee, Halima's sister gave birth to twins two weeks ago, they are tiny but so beautiful," said Latif.

"Oh good your pride is prospering well like it has been for years," said Ramla.

"Yes, a growing pride is a happy pride, but I sense you came to tell me something, what news do you have?" asked Latif as he just started to notice a small figure hiding behind Ramla.

"Well she has arrived," said Ramla as she stepped aside revealing Lisa who looked up at the king with nervous but curious eyes unsure how to react to him.

Latif gasped in shock. "Already, it feels like it was only a few months ago when that happened," he said as he looked down at Lisa with surprise. Only he and his wife knew about her coming yet were still very surprised by her presence.

"I'm afraid that the things you dread happen quicker than when you want them to, but if you keep Lisa safe, Dajan presence will no longer be a problem," said Ramla.

Latif looked down at Lisa while Lisa looked up at him, giving him a nervous grin not sure how to greet a huge lion that was not behind a bar or glass. One swipe of his paw could end her life at any moment.

"Well I guess the quicker it is over with the better, what is your name child?" asked Latif.

"Lisa, sir," said Lisa nervously.

"So polite, and to think that she was human only a little while ago," said Latif.

Lisa only grinned while Ramla pushed her forward. "I say its time for you to meet the pride," said Ramla.

"Yes I say it is as well, and we should have a feast for you in your honor, of course only me and my wife Halima know about you so we will pretend that this feast is to fatten you up since you have been lost for a few days without your pride," said Latif who seemed to have the whole plan sorted out when he had nothing better to do.

Latif then led the way toward the pride which consisted of twenty lionesses, two males including Latif's three year old son and heir to the throne named Mashal, and six cubs that all ranged from the two tiny cubs who were only two weeks of age to the oldest who was a year and half. Every one of them had watched Latif talk to Ramla and when they saw Lisa appear behind her they all tried to listen with curiosity but without success.

"Everyone, this is Lisa, she lost her family while traveling with them, she will stay with us for a few days until we can find them," said Latif.

Lisa only nodded toward them as they all welcomed her to the pride, Latif nudged her forward helping her to get better acquainted to her new foster family.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lisa, you must be exhausted from loosing your family," said Halima whose voice sounded like a calm river stream that made Lisa feel even more welcome into the pride.

"Lisa! That's a weird name," said a cub who was about the same age as Lisa.

"Kanzi be nice, she probably thinks your name is weird, some names are just different," said Kanzi's mother who then gave her a quick swat with her paw.

Kanzi made a face at her mother and then snorted at Lisa in disgust, she barely even knew Lisa yet but already had a big grudge against her that the other cubs began to notice.

"Don't mind my sister, she thinks she rules the cubs but she could not lead us even if she tried," said a male cub who had a tuft of red on his head and for some strange reason, Lisa was attracted to him.

"At least I'm a better leader than you will be," said Kanzi.

Her brother just sneered and then smiled at Lisa. "My name is Khalil, that there is my brother Saburi, and my cousin Pandu; the two week olds won't be named until they are a month old," said Khalil as he introduced his brother and cousin.

Saburi looked almost like his brother, only his red tuft was much smaller, more of a small cowlick than anything else, the tip of his ears though had little tufts sticking up making him look like a lynx. Pandu was a year and a half so he wasn't exactly a cub but he still hung around with them, acting like a big brother and protecting them from any problems.

Lisa only nodded at the new companions both of them gave her reassuring smiles to make sure that she knew that they were on friendly terms with her, not like Kanzi.

"So how did you loose your parents any way, doesn't your pride have its own territory?" asked Saburi.

Lisa thought for a moment on how to lie about her new identity, hopefully what she came up with would be true and honest sounding.

"Actually me, my parents, and my brother travel around just living off the land," said Lisa nervously.

"Oh Rogues I see," said Pandu.

"You must have fascinating adventures," said Khalil.

"Yeah but my brother is the one who usually gets into more adventures than I do though, he's more of the troublemaker," said Lisa.

"Oh who cares, you're just a dumb rogue whose parents don't have a set of boundaries and would probably take more than their fair share of food in our lands," said Kanzi.

"Shuttup Kanzi, just because we lost our sister to one does not mean her parents were like that one," said Khalil.

"You say that now but just watch I bet her parents will try to take over our pride when they find her too," said Kanzi who now had her muzzle against Lisa's, giving her the evil eye and making Lisa feel extremely terrible.

Saburi was the one who actually noticed this and quickly pushed Kanzi to the side getting into a kitten fight that was with claws. Lisa only watched wishing now more than ever that she was back at the hotel not worrying about any kind of prophecy at all.

"Don't worry about them, Kanzi will get over it, so what is that thing around your neck any way?" asked Khalil trying to change the subject and make Lisa feel welcome.

"Oh this, my dad found it when I was little and put it around my neck, I've worn it ever since," lied Lisa.

"Is really pretty, it matches your eyes," said Khalil making Lisa blush.

"Dinner's ready!" a voice suddenly yelled before Lisa could feel any more awkward around a cub that she would probably never see again in a few weeks time.

The call for dinner instantly stopped Kanzi and Saburi's fight and they all raced over to the meal, Lisa following quickly behind. Once she saw what the meal was, she instantly cringed and wished again that she had not taken the offer up with Ramla. There in front of her was the carcass of a dead Zebra, meat. Lisa stared at everyone as they ate unsure of what to think of this ritual and seeing them act like savages.

"What's wrong Lisa?" asked Halima when she noticed that Lisa was only standing there looking upset.

"Oh nothing it's just that I'm a vega…" She stopped in mid sentence knowing that the lions would find this extremely confusing.

"You're a what?" asked Mashal.

"Probably something stupid that her rogue family made up and is forbidden to eat," said Kanzi.

Kanzi's mother only glared at her.

"Sorry I guess I'm just used to seeing my parents and my brother eat with me, there is just a lot of you," said Lisa as she tried to lie again.

"Don't worry you'll get as much as you need, now don't be shy," said Latif.

Lisa only gulped before slowly moving forward. She stood in front of the hind leg of the animal, its body steaming with the smell of fresh meat. Lisa felt she was about to barf but quickly swallowed it in before finally taking a bite. When she used to eat meat, her meal was cooked, now she had to resort to the raw kind which now tasted more bloody and filled with the germs she needed to avoid when it was cooked. She soon swallowed the meat and then looked at the pride who was watching her.

"How is it?" asked Halima.

Lisa knew she had to lie a little. "It's not bad," she said as she took another bite, she looked up after doing so and found that the pride had lost interest in her eating and were now eating themselves. Lisa only sighed and swallowed her meal. She reluctantly ate a few more bites until she could no longer handle it and watched everyone else eat; it was going to be a long few weeks with the pride.

Evening finally arrived and the pride had settled into the den for a long siesta. Lisa was invited to sleep with Latif and Halima but she couldn't fall asleep and quickly slipped out of the cave and out onto the promontory where she first saw Latif. There was a steady breeze blowing and she gave a heavy sigh as it blew into her face.

The land looked so peaceful from where she stood and every star you could imagine could be seen from where she was, something she could not do at home. She watched as birds flew by, animals run toward a safe place fore the evening, and hundreds of noises that she was not sure if they were angry sounds or sounds of sleep. It was truly fascinating to her yet at the same time she longed for her parents to be by her side.

She had been away from them for many hours now and they were probably worried sick about her. They all were probably not even sleeping either, maybe they were out searching for her right now.

"Can't sleep eh?" came a voice from behind her.

Lisa turned around startled but only discovered that it was Latif looking down at her with loving eyes. Eyes that told her he could be trusted no matter what she did.

"Yes sir, I'm just not used to this and I'm worried about my parents," said Lisa.

"I bet they are worried about you too Lisa, but don't worry you'll be together with them soon," said Latif.

"I just don't understand why I was the one chosen for this, why can't it be another lion like Khalil or something?" asked Lisa.

"Fate is a strange thing isn't it, one minute you are a human just minding your own business, the next you are standing next to a baboon walking on all fours. Fate can't really be explained, it just happens for a reason, you were destined for it and there is no way to change that," said Latif.

"It is strange and it feels even stranger being something I was not born to be," said Lisa.

"I agree with you on that, I would most likely be just as confused as you are if I found myself as a human," said Latif.

"I just hope I can get this prophecy over and done with as quickly as I can, I know its nice being out here away from humans and their pollution but I just suddenly don't feel safe like this out in the open," said Lisa.

"But Halima and I are here to protect you, if any harm tries to come to you we will fight back," said Latif who pushed Lisa up against his leg, even though Lisa barely knew him she suddenly felt a connection with him and quickly nuzzled up against his leg. This was as close to a father figure she was going to get for a while and she had chosen to help him in his hour of need to keep his angry brother from trying to rule his kingdom and others.

"Thank you I'm glad you are willing to take care of me," said Lisa.

"The pleasure is all mine especially since if you did not come a different battle would be fought and innocent blood would most likely be spilled," said Latif.

"But Dajan might get me and my innocent blood would be spilled and it would be a waste for me to come," said Lisa.

"That is why I am here, you have a destiny and I will make sure that that rotten brother of mine won't change that," Latif let out a slight growl that startled Lisa for a moment.

"Sorry, he just makes me angry," said Latif blushing.

"It's alright even the kindest of us show anger," said Lisa.

"Such wise words for a young child, you truly are special, now since we are both wide awake I bet you can tell me some fascinating things about those dots in the night sky up there," said Latif as he looked up at the heavens with a grin and curious eyes.

Lisa only giggled before she began to teach the curious king all she knew about the stars.

* * *

"Now wait before you go any further," interrupted Layla as quickly as she could.

"Yes young lady?" said Kijani.

"Why was Lisa afraid to eat meat?" asked Layla.

"Well you know how hooved mammals only eat green food and not meat like us?" asked Kijani.

Layla only nodded.

"Well she prefers to eat greens because humans have a tendency to prepare their meat in such a way that other humans find revolting and they don't want any part of it, so they call themselves vegetarians," said Kijani.

"Oh I see, that's all I wanted to know," said Layla who then smiled as she waited for Kijani to continue with the rest of the story.

* * *

A/N: Okay that's enough for now and sorry for the long wait, I tried to finish this before I left for vacation but it didn't work out too well. I hope you all enjoyed that and I know the ending it's probably not the best I can come up with but I thought it was nice to have Lisa get to know Latif some more. You know this story can actually be a whole story if I wanted it to be and I could use Mufasa as the king or something but I'm not sure how it will work out and everything. What do you all think? Here are name meanings for you all.

Kahfee: Quiet

Mashal: Torch

Kanzi: A treasure

Khalil: Sincere Friend

Samir: Companion

Pandu: Artistic

Saburi: Patience

I hope that's all of them, if I forgot one please let me know. I hope to have the next chapter up as soon as possible so keep a lookout for it. See you all later.


	12. Lisa the Lion Part 3

Four days had passed since Lisa joined Latif's pride. For Lisa, those four days were slow and quiet as she got to know more about her fellow pride members and slowly she was becoming attached to them and becoming good friends.

But more importantly you are all probably wondering what was going on with her parents and brother. And if you are thinking that they were worried sick then you are definitely right about that. The first afternoon when Lisa did not return, Marge was the first to show some concern while Homer assured her that she probably lost track of time that she would be home later in the day. Marge reluctantly agreed with Homer and went with Bart for a nice dinner. She was still not back when they returned to the hotel, making Marge a little frantic as she called for her on the porch. It was a sleepless night as Marge waited for Lisa to return and in the morning, Marge went to the lobby to fill out a missing child form.

For four days they had the police scour the city looking for Lisa until it was too dark to search any more and poor Marge lay on the bed every night crying her eyes out and wishing that Lisa would return home.

By the fourth day the police began to wonder if she had gone out onto the savanna to explore and because of that was most likely eaten by a lion, this caused Marge to go into hysterics before Homer finally took matters into his own hands and decided to go out there and look for her with Bart. Marge came too so in case Lisa showed herself she would be the first to hug her and then scold her for making her worry so much about her.

As they looked around for Lisa, Bart was the first to call out to her with a worried voice.

"Lisa please come back, if you don't come back then who can I harass until Maggie is older," he cried.

"Lisa stop hugging the trees and come home," said Homer trying to sound as brave as he could.

Marge only looked worriedly around hoping to see her bright sunny hair peek out among the grasses. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Lisa jump out of a tree but when she adjusted her eyes she noticed that it was only a monkey but for some strange reason it was heading their way.

"Homer, Bart, I think you need to stop calling for her," said Marge nervously.

"Why do you see her?" asked Homer.

"No but I think you are upsetting the wildlife," said Marge as she pointed at the monkey who was slowly making its way toward them with caution.

"Oh you know monkeys, its probably only wondering if we have a peanut," said Homer as he rummaged through his pockets.

"Don't provoke it Homer, its not like the monkey's you see in zoos, this one might injure us,' said Marge as she hid behind Homer worried that it would come and claw her eyes out.

"Oh Marge you worry too much, look at its cute little face and how hairy it is, you know it kind of looks like your sisters," said Homer.

"Homer!" said Marge angrily.

"Yeah Homer show some respect for your family," said the monkey.

Homer and Marge gasped and stood still for a moment until Homer thought he caught on. "Alright Bart get out from behind that monkey," he said.

"Dad, I'm right here," said Bart standing next to them.

Homer stood there dumbfounded, was this just a hallucination from the sleepless nights and crying their eyes out or was this the real deal? After a long awkward silence, Bart moved forward a little bit looking closely at the baboon and wonder if there were any wires hanging off her.

"In case you are wondering, I am not a human dressed in a monkey suit," said the baboon.

Bart backed away and looked at his parents who weren't sure what to think of this.

"If you are not in a monkey suit then you shouldn't be talking," said Marge nervously.

"You say I shouldn't but that's only because you have never heard a monkey talk, and you have never heard a monkey talk because you are too busy listening to hear yourself talk," said the monkey.

"Uhhhhhh……okay then," said Homer.

"Hmmm I see what Lisa meant by a wet match in a dark cave," said the monkey as she rubbed her chin.

"Wait, you know where Lisa is?" asked Marge.

"Of course that is why I came to you and don't worry, she is safe," said the monkey.

"Where is she?" asked Marge excitedly.

"First off let me introduce myself as Ramla, I am a shaman of this land and the one who caused Lisa's disappearance but that's only because she has important business to take care of," said Ramla.

"What kind of business?" asked Bart.

Ramla looked at Bart who seemed very curious yet she sensed there would be much persuading in him, same went for Homer who would most likely take forever to understand anything that was going on. Marge would probably be the easiest to explain to but her worry for Lisa would make it hard for her to take the time to listen since she only wanted to see her daughter again.

"I think this might take a while to explain and I think its best you come with me to my tree, its shadier there any way," said Ramla as she motioned for the family to follow her.

The three stood there for a moment, unsure of what to make of this strange predicament until Bart was the one who actually made the move to follow her, his curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to know more. Homer and Marge only looked at each other before following Bart toward the tree.

When they reached the tree Ramla invited them up and of course Bart quickly climbed up without a problem, climbing as if he was part of Ramla's family and giving the sly smile he always gave when he accomplished something he liked. Marge took a while to get up to the top but it was Homer who had the most trouble. He tried to grab the nearest branch and then tried to lift himself up but instead he ended up dangling for a moment before Bart noticed this.

"Dad, lift your weight up when you climb the branch," said Bart.

"That's easy for you to say, you are younger than I am," said Homer as he tried again this time succeeding in getting up the branch though it took some hard lifting and a long wait.

Homer was halfway up the tree too when he tried grabbing a branch that looked safe enough for him to grab and swing toward the trunks roomy space where Bart, Ramla, and Marge were waiting. Instead though the branch broke from his weight and Homer soon found himself falling down the tree and landing hard on his rump on top of a root.

"Oh that's gonna hurt in the morning," whimpered Homer.

Ramla rolled her eyes and quickly climbed down. "You want me to help you up?" she asked.

"Once was enough thanks, can I just stay down here?" asked Homer as he rubbed his rump.

"I suppose, come back down here Bart, Marge," said Ramla as she waved at the other two.

Bart quickly climbed back down and Marge was not too far behind.

"You okay Homey?" asked Marge.

Homer only nodded as he turned to Ramla who gave them a quick nod before continuing.

"Now this is probably going to sound very strange to you, but your daughter is involved in a prophecy, one that involves her helping lions, now I know this sounds very strange and believe me when I first heard about it I thought it was strange joke the shamans of old played on me but this is the honest to goodness truth," began Ramla.

"So my daughter is with lions, won't they try to injure her, how do they know not to hurt her?" asked Marge acting like the typical mother.

"Well I have been with this pride for many years, I have informed the leader about this so he knows all about it and knows she is important to them and has promised to keep her safe, besides she is not human for the time being but an actual lion," said Ramla.

"Woah, seriously? That is so cool," said Bart.

"Bart! Will she be able to return to her former self?" asked Marge.

"Of course, I have actually done it on myself a number of times, that's how the necklace came into possession from that merchant because I gave it to him in human form. And I know that since you all are very worried about her, I know that perhaps you would not mind joining her until the prophecy is fulfilled," said Ramla.

"What kind of prophecy is this any way?" asked Marge.

Since you all have heard about this prophecy then I don't need to have Ramla explain it to you again. But Ramla did explain it to Marge, Bart, and Homer who were all perplexed and quite confused. But Ramla was patient and even though it did take her an hour to explain what was going on she kept her cool until all three understood.

"So would you like to join your daughter, or would you rather spend time in the hotel and wait for her to come home?" asked Ramla once her explaining was finished.

Marge and Homer looked at each other while Bart tried to get their attention by nodding excitedly, he wanted to become a lion and see what it was like maybe even learn how to hunt.

"We will at least know she is safe and not worry about her night and day," said Homer.

"But we will still any way since that Dajan character might show up any time," said Marge.

"If we were there we could help protect her," said Homer.

"Yeah and I can go to the bathroom wherever I want and scratch wherever I want to too," said Bart.

Homer and Marge stared at Bart for a moment before turning to Ramla who was waiting as patiently as she could to know the verdict.

"Why not, I don't think we had any more plans do to any thing before we left any way," said Marge.

"Yesssssssss," said Bart happily.

"Alright then, now please hold still as I transform you into your new selves," said Ramla.

Homer, Marge, and Bart all stood perfectly still as Ramla began to chant the words to turn them all into a lion while she waved her stick back and forth. The three then disappeared for a moment into a cloud of dust but once the dust cleared, Ramla could clearly see that what she had done worked and the trio were now lions.

Homer sat there on his rump looking at what used to be his hands but were now paws, before he could respond, claws suddenly unsheathed and Homer looked at them in surprise.

"Woah, I can't wait to try these babies out," said Homer.

"And I have sharp teeth, look Dad I can bite you," said Bart who was about to run over and bite Homer in the rump but Marge only stopped him.

Ramla laughed as she looked at the three. Homer who was bald as a human now had a mane, it wasn't full though, midway on his head was where the mane stopped at and then went all the way down to the base of his neck, it was a dark brown color and actually made him look quite healthy. His stomach wasn't too big but it still made him look a little overweight for a lion.

Marge's hair had actually shrunk down and was now just a wide, bluish gray curly stripe going from her forehead to the middle of her shoulder blades. She looked like the perfect lion though, sleek and shiny, it was definitely enough for Homer to be more in love with her.

Bart like Lisa was no longer a ten year old boy but a ten month old lion cub with a small mane coming in; his trademark spiky hair now looked like a Mohawk that started at the top of his head to the base of his shoulder blades. He also had a small tuft growing out in the front of his chest which he showed off proudly.

"Looks like my son can attract some ladies," said Homer.

Bart only looked at him in disgust.

"Now that we are lions I can't wait to see Lisa," said Marge.

"Me either, now let's go find her," said Homer.

Right after Homer said that, all three moved forward but they didn't go far before they landed flat on their faces forgetting that they had now walk on all fours.

"Whoops, looks like I have some training to do with you," said Ramla.

* * *

"Did you see the look on her face when Pandu pushed her in," laughed Khalil as he and Lisa were heading back to the pride.

"Yeah I didn't know she could scream that loud," said Lisa a little nervously.

The four cubs had been playing together in a nearby waterhole when Kanzi showed up. She had started making rude remarks to Lisa who had actually thought for a while that Kanzi was lightening up to her, that didn't seem like the case when she showed up. So Pandu thought it would be fun to push her into the waterhole. Every one of them ran off before Kanzi was barely out of the water, they did not want to face her wraith and the other lions knew that she was not on good terms with Lisa so most of them would back Lisa up.

"I could have sworn though that she was acting kind to me earlier today," said Lisa.

"Yeah but that's Kanzi for you, always changing her mind, oh well one of these days she'll lighten up," said Khalil.

Lisa only nodded nervously as she made her way back to the pride who were now resting lazily on the rocks after a long day in the sun. Lisa, Khalil, Pandu, and Saburi all sat down in the shade thinking about something to do before the sun went down.

Before they could even think, Kanzi showed up dripping wet and quite grumpy. "You're lucky the pride is on your side because if they weren't I would make sure you were kicked out so fast and I would laugh at you," said Kanzi.

"Oh Kanzi lighten up and join us, try to be friends with Lisa for just a little bit I bet she might know some fun games," said Saburi as he looked over at Lisa.

"Whatever," said Kanzi rolling her eyes as she sat down and joined them.

The cubs all stared at Lisa who had to come up with a quick game and fast, one that did not involve human only games.

"How about I Spy?" asked Lisa.

"What game is that?" asked Khalil curiously.

"Well it's where you spot an object say this rock right here but you can't tell any one what it is. You just say I spy something that is grey in color and everyone looks around to figure out what you spy," said Lisa.

"Oh that looks like fun, we should do that," said Saburi.

"Why not, it does sound different," said Kanzi who did sound a little excited.

"And since you were the one who started it, you should go ahead Lisa," said Khalil.

Lisa gave a quick smile before looking around and then spotting a lonely green bird in a tree. "I spy something green," said Lisa.

"The grass?" asked Pandu. Lisa shook her head.

"That leaf?" asked Kanzi. Lisa shook her head again.

"Uh that rock with some moss on it?" asked Saburi. Lisa shook her head again.

"Oh wait I think I know, how about that green bird up there?" asked Pandu after hearing the bird chirp.

"Yeah that's it, now it's your turn," said Lisa.

Pandu looked around and was just about to say that he could spy a purple flower in the distance when a lion walked on top of it.

"Awww, and I was going to describe that pretty flower too," said Pandu.

Lisa looked at where Pandu was looking and saw that the lion was not any other lion but a familiar face even that of a lion, her father.

"Dad!" she yelled out happily and ran toward him. Bart and Marge were not too far behind and both were running toward her and laughing. Lisa pounced on her father and gave him the biggest hug she could around his newly created mane.

"Lisa you scared us half to death," he said.

"I know, I'm sorry I should have never done what I did," said Lisa as she climbed off Homer and hugged Marge who was actually looking at her sternly.

"Darn right you shouldn't have, we haven't slept since you left," said Marge sternly.

"Yeah I was thinking too much about you when TV shows were on," said Bart.

Lisa only smiled and hugged her big brother as the pride she had been staying in came over to investigate.

"I see you have found your daughter," said Latif with a smile.

"I helped them mostly," said Ramla who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Thank you Ramla," said Lisa.

Ramla only smiled before she turned to Homer, Marge, and Latif who all knew they needed to have a quick chat about the coming days ahead. Lisa and Bart on the other hand did not notice this; instead Lisa had turned to her friends and introduced them to Bart.

"Guys this is my brother Bart, Bart this is Pandu, Khalil, Saburi, and Kanzi," said Lisa.

Bart only nodded, for the first time he seemed a little uncertain being around lion cubs who he knew he would forget about later on and what made it worse was that he would forget their names in about five minutes.

"Geeze where do you guys come from any way, you have such crazy names," said Kanzi.

"Springfield," said Bart, he knew he was not supposed to say he was human but telling them he came from another place was probably alright.

"So is the field all springy or something?" asked Khalil.

"Only after it rains, all the worms come up and we stomp on them," said Bart.

The four looked at him curiously, he was different from his sister, yet he seemed to have that fun side to him that they liked. They all knew that he would warm up eventually and sooner or later he would be playing tag through the long grasses and swimming in the waterhole.

* * *

Night had fallen in the cliffs far from the pride, Dajan walked back and forth in front of his new jackal minions, all thirty of them. They all looked scrawny but each one had muscle strong enough to keep a lion at bay for a few minutes while another jackal seized Lisa.

"Now you all know that if the plan works perfectly, you are all entitled to great health care while I rule the lion world," said Dajan in his cold voice.

"And if we fail sire?" asked Samir.

"Failure is not an option and if you do displease me then you will all become vulture fodder, do I make myself clear?" he asked.

Some of the jackals gulped while others only nodded nervously, they were not expecting him to be so cold hearted.

"Good now I want you all to be back here in the afternoon before the full moon, we will get ready for the ambush," said Dajan.

And with that all the jackals save for Samir left the hidden cliffs for home. Samir stood by his leader as Dajan watched them all go, his long salt and pepper mane blowing in the wind.

"You are a good motivational speaker sir," said Samir.

"It's my job Samir though I do know a kiss ass when I hear one," said Dajan.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to be," said Samir.

"I'm sure you didn't," said Dajan who then disappeared behind some dark caves.

* * *

Kijani stopped talking as he looked down at the cubs, all five were lying down, their eyes opening and closing as they tried to listen to the story. Kali even started yawning.

"It looks like I will have to finish this tomorrow," he said.

"But I want to hear more," said Asha as she gave a big yawn.

"Yeah I know the next part is getting good," said Jelani.

All five of them gave Kijani the cute puppy dog eyes while at the same time began to yawn, making the storyteller himself start to yawn. They were definitely up later than usual and he was beginning to feel drowsy himself.

"But I am tired and I cannot tell the stories right when I am tired, now would you like to hear the correct story or only part of it?" asked Kijani.

The cubs looked at each other knowing that a wide awake Kijani was the best thing to hear.

"We'll wait until tomorrow," Layla said a little distraught but happy to know that there would be more stories to come.

"Very good, now get some sleep we will continue this later tomorrow afternoon," said Kijani.

The cubs then all slumped down close together, sharing their warmth, even Layla stayed with them. She knew her father would not mind her staying with the lion cubs for the night, she had even hinted the idea to him earlier. Kijani watched them sleep for a moment before letting out a big yawn and walked to a spot in the corner he liked to sleep in. Tomorrow he would continue it, and tomorrow he hoped to make it a grand ending for them.

* * *

A/N: Yeah sorry for the slowness of this chapter, but don't worry there will be some nice action in the next chapter which ends with a cliffhanger, yay. You probably won't have to wait forever for it either, I've already started on it and when I start on action chapters I have a hard time stopping, so watch out for it very soon. So any way please review and I will see you all soon.


	13. Lisa the Lion Part 4

"How far would you go to protect someone you love from the dangers they face, would you fight to the death or would you try to reason with the captor?" asked Kijani the next afternoon as the cubs settled down to hear the rest of the story.

"I don't think I would be brave enough to fight, I think I would try to be quick and clever, saving my best friend by wits and smarts," said Layla a little nervously.

"Well being a prince its always important to learn that once you are king you must learn to reason sooner or later but if you do have to fight that might be the best option," said Jelani in a very intelligent voice, one that made Kijani proud.

"I would run away," said Kali truthfully.

"Ha Ha well, you all are still young so your opinions will change over time. But once you are an adult and this problem arises, you must show how brave you can be when the one you love is taken from you before your very eyes. Give up and the chances of seeing that person again is slim, fighting back either means one of you will be seriously injured or worse," said Kijani.

"So you are saying that something bad will happen to Lisa and her family?" asked Asha.

"Not exactly, I just thought it would be important to ask you this question before we moved further," said Kijani.

"Maybe once the story is over we will have a better understanding," said Zuri.

The other cubs nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, but one more question I must ask. What is love?" Kijani asked simply.

The cubs looked at each other a bit puzzled; Layla then gave a smirk thinking she knew the answer.

"Love is your parents tucking you closely to them at night to keep us away from the dangerous creatures that roam through the night," she said.

"Oh are you sure about that?" asked Kijani.

"I think love is when someone else loves you back," said Zuri.

"Hmmm not a bad answer," said Kijani.

"Love is not getting mad at you for doing things that you are not supposed to," said Jelani.

Kijani nodded, the cubs had some good ideas of what love was. He had asked this question to many on his journeys and many did not even know how to answer because they had not been shown it as much as these cubs had.

"Love is a delicious piece of meat," said Asha as she started to drool at the thought of a piece of zebra.

"Hmmm that's more of a want though," said Kijani.

Asha lowered her ears a little embarrassed by the statement, Kijani only smiled at her, she had the right idea, it was just a different thought of it. Kijani then looked at Kali who still had that thoughtful look on her face, unsure of what to answer.

"Love is……wanting to share your kingdom with the one you have lived with for so long," she finally answered.

"That is a very good answer, and I am only asking this question as well because what I am about to tell you is proof of what love can be like. It's surprising to know what someone will do because they love another so much," said Kijani.

"Does Lisa's mom sacrifice herself to help her?" asked Zuri whose eyes were now wide with curiosity.

"Well you will have to listen for yourself now won't you. I will now begin a week later after Lisa's family had settled in nicely and made quite a few friends. They did have a few adventures but none were like the one they were about to face. It was the night of the full moon, and the jackals, who had been sent by Dajan, had just ended their attack," began Kijani.

* * *

The area around them was a mess of broken ground and a few scattered bodies of jackals lying around. Latif surveyed the damage and made sure his pride was alright, Homer limped toward him looking a bit worried.

"Does that happen a lot?" he asked.

"No I have never experienced that, it was a very strange attack," said Latif with a sigh while Halima came over to make sure he was alright.

"I wonder what provoked them," said Halima as she groomed Latif.

"Strange things happen during a full moon so you never know," said Latif.

Homer was about to respond when he heard Bart and the other cubs calling for him, he turned around and saw his son with Marge running toward him looking scared and upset.

"They captured Lisa," said Bart.

"Yeah they came out of nowhere and surrounded me, while some of them took off with Lisa, poor Bart was tossed aside like a rag doll," said Marge as she revealed a small cut on Bart's forehead above the eye.

"It's not that bad mom, but it's just enough to keep me down while they took her away," said Bart who seemed to be trying to hide his emotions by scrunching up his face and trying not to cry.

"And you should have heard them laugh too, they were like hyenas they seemed so proud of themselves as they just grabbed her and ran off," said Khalil.

"Why would they even want her any way, Lisa is not even from around here," said Saburi.

Latif gasped in shock, he could not believe he had been so foolish and careless. He should have been better prepared for this.

"Dajan has minions, that sneak, why did I not realize this might be the case sooner," he said with a growl.

"You mean Lisa is the one Uncle Dajan was after all along?" asked Kanzi. The cubs knew of their evil uncle but they never knew who would be the one to help him succeed or fail.

Latif only nodded gravely as he looked at his pride worriedly. Not sure how to handle this new situation.

"So now Lisa could be meeting her fate any minute?" asked Homer in a very nervous and upset voice.

"I'm afraid so," said Latif.

With that realization, Marge fell to the ground and began to cry heavily believing that they were too late to do anything while Homer rubbed up against her looking worried but knowing something had to be done.

"Don't worry Marge, I'll get her back and help her succeed, even if I have to die trying," said Homer his voice trembling.

"Please be careful Homey," said Marge as she nuzzled him back.

And without another thought, Homer ran as fast as his overweight body could carry him through the grass toward the place where the ceremony was taking place, Bart was not too far behind ready to help his father by any means necessary. Behind them the sky illuminated with the oncoming storm that would be upon them once the ceremony was over.

"So you are the one the prophecy foretells," whispered Dajan as he stood in the shadows while Lisa stood around on a platform surrounded by jackals, her necklace facing upwards on her neck toward the moon that was almost at a zenith.

"Yes and you will never get these lands, we will stop you for this," said Lisa with a growl.

"Ah a feisty little one I see," said Dajan as he moved forward. The jackals slowly backed away as they let him move forward his eyes never leaving Lisa's.

Suddenly Lisa lashed out at him with her claws breaking skin on his nose, but Dajan barely flinched as she struck and before Lisa could even attack again, Dajan swiped her hard in the face sending her sprawling on the rock. Lisa fell on her side while Dajan jumped on top of her grinning with anticipation.

"Now the moon will be at its zenith very soon, and your blood will be shed bringing about a new era for lions," said Dajan as he unsheathed his claws.

Lisa stared at them; they were longer than any she had seen yet and extremely sharp looking. She had no idea where he planned to cut, all she knew was that she was afraid and started to whimper.

"Oh don't be afraid young one, the pain will be short," said Dajan as he lifted his paw high into the air, Lisa braced herself.

"Harm one hair on her and you will feel my wrath," said a voice from behind.

Dajan turned around while his paw was still in the air, at first he thought it was Latif until he found it to only be a heavy set lion and one that was much older than he was. Next to him was another cub who backed away a little bit unsure of whether or not to fight.

"And who might you be?" asked Dajan.

"I happen to be her father, now let her go," said Homer with a growl revealing some very sharp looking teeth.

"Oh and what will you do if I don't, sit on me?" said Dajan with a slight grin.

Homer said nothing but only growled as he unsheathed his claws, showing that he meant business and was not dealing with any nonsense.

"Oh I see Daddy wants to fight me, well first you have to get past the jackals first," said Dajan who gave a nod to the eight jackals that were still standing nearby to watch the ceremony.

The jackals licked their lips and moved forward while Homer looked at them all worriedly, he could probably take them but felt that Dajan was not fighting fair.

"So you send your minions to kill me, does this mean you are a coward?" asked Homer.

Dajan stared at Homer who was now mocking him by making chicken noises. He just wanted to get this prophecy done with, but he could quickly see he had no choice.

"Jackals fall back, I guess this is between me and fat boy here," said Dajan as he left Lisa and moved forward toward Homer. "So to the death?"

Homer only growled and stood his ground while Dajan began to circle. Homer soon did the same both eyeing each other waiting for the perfect strike. Bart had moved away and was now standing next to Lisa who watched nervously as the scene unfolded.

Now as you cubs know, if a child is in danger then the parent will go at any lengths to protect the child. They will show strength and courage that no one has ever seen before. A quiet mother will suddenly fight back at the rogue who takes over the pride and wants to kill her cubs. She will fight until there is no more fight in her, a testament to her love. A father will do the same, he doesn't care if he is bloodied and battered, he will fight until he is on the ground and unable to stand further. Its one of the many definitions of love, being able to do anything for the one you love.

So as Homer circled, he looked for a good advantage to strike but he was so deep in thought of how to do it he did not move in time when Dajan came at him. Homer tried to move out of the way and strike as well but he only hit air while Dajan raked his claws down his shoulder. Homer flinched but he did not falter and backed away waiting for a good opportunity.

That moment came a second later when he sensed Dajans movement and both moved forward, head on, claws unsheathed, both hit flesh. But both stayed upright and began tearing at each other left and right. Lisa and Bart watched in horror as it happened, they never saw this side of their father and they wondered how long he would last.

"Lisa you should take off your necklace, it seems to be attracted to the light," said Bart as he noticed how her necklace seemed to be trying to unhook itself on Lisa.

Lisa nodded and quickly took off the necklace and as soon as she did so, it started to hover above her just enough for her to reach. It was also enough to get Homer distracted as he saw his daughter take off the necklace. For just a second was enough for Dajan to take a big bite into Homer's front leg. Homer let out a scream of agony and fell back giving Dajan the advantage as he moved forward to attack Lisa.

Luckily for her though, Homer was only stopped short for that one second, he did not care for himself, he cared about his kids and as soon as Dajan turned his back, he leapt forward and dug deep into Dajan's back before pulling him backwards. Dajan roared and twisted himself toward Homer and swiping at him. Homer quickly fought back.

"The moon is almost covering the rock!" Lisa said anxiously, all she wanted was for it to cover the rock so the fight would be over and everything would be fine, but it seemed to be taking forever.

"Come on!" said Bart as he stared at the moon.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the rock reached its zenith causing Bart to make out a loud cheer and distracting Homer yet again. Because of his injuries, Homer was getting weaker by the minute and when he stopped to see Bart and Lisa, Dajan saw this as another advantage and swiped at him hard in the head. Homer went flying to the ground and hit his head hard against a rock, he did not rise.

Dajan laughed at Homer's still form before turning to Lisa and Bart who were both looking up at the necklace that was now rising higher in the air. He had to stop it for just a brief moment, get Lisa's blood and then set it back into the air. He leapt forward and tried to grab the necklace but only ended up grabbing air before he fell hard on his back causing the wind to be knocked out of him. Lisa and Bart stared at him for a moment before a voice suddenly called to Lisa.

"Lisa you have fulfilled the prophecy, your life was spared meaning you have created peace in the lands once again," said the voice.

"Noooooooooooooooo!" cried Dajan as he got up but was now unsure of what to do especially when part of the light pointed to him.

"As for you Dajan, you have no place within our world and your fate has now been sealed," said the voice.

Suddenly a large light appeared on the moonstone of the necklace causing everyone to shield their eyes for a brief moment, then the ground shook. Lisa and Bart held on as the ground began to split open in front of them, they heard a scream and then the ground was silent once again.

Bart and Lisa looked toward where Dajan had been standing, there was now a big hole in the ground and Dajan was nowhere to be seen. Lisa moved forward and looked down, nothing but a black abyss but she could sense that Dajan met his fate down there.

"Did you see that!" said a jackal from above the rocks.

"Yeah and I don't like it," said another.

"We better get out of here, that cub could blind us too," said a female.

The jackals all scattered out of the canyon while Bart growled at them as they left pretending it was him who had chased them out.

"Yeah you guys better run, or my sister will eat you up!" he said.

Lisa chuckled for a moment before looking down at the rock that the moon illuminated on, it was now only half lit and the string that held the gems in place lay on top of it. The gems were now long gone, disintegrated by the light. Lisa gave a small sigh as small droplets of rain began to fall around her. For the first time since she stayed with the pride, she felt satisfied, but it would be short lived.

"Lisa!" she heard Bart yell from behind.

Lisa turned around and saw him standing next to what looked like a large mound of grass or a rock. But as she got closer she realized what it really was.

Dad!" she cried as she ran over, tears falling down her face toward Homer.

But Homer did not respond, he only lay there motionless as the rain began to fall on top of him and the cubs.

* * *

A/N: See I told you I would leave you with a cliffhanger. Yes I know this was weird, it is odd imagining Homer fight an evil bad guy, but hey a lot of people do strange things with their favorite characters. And yes I know this part was a little more violent that what Kijani has been telling but hey I just thought this story needed something different. And yes the sit on me joke was just like Kung Fu Panda, I just didn't go very far with it. If you haven't seen that movie go see it, and Dark Knight, and Hellboy 2. Also if you weren't expecting the climax so soon well I just wanted to make the story short, just so we could get on with more short stories after this one and not focus on a big one like this.

So yeah one more chapter for this story and then we go back to the one chapter stories. I still think this would have made a good story by itself I just have no idea how I would work it though. Eh maybe one day. But I need to stop rambling and let you all review. I hope to have this next chapter up soon so you can find out what happens. And please go check out Bdlywrttn's stuff the poor thing is lonely, she writes about meerkats for goodness sakes, doesn't any body love meerkats? Well bye for now.


	14. Lisa the Lion Part 5

A/N: There will be a song later on in this chapter, I do not own it, Disney most likely does since it's on the Rhythm of the Pridelands soundtrack and I thought it sounded fit. So enjoy.

* * *

"So Lisa's own father gave his life for her?" asked Zuri her mouth wide open with wonder.

"That's so brave, I don't think I could fight like that," said Jelani.

"Me either," said Asha.

"Oh you would be surprised at how well you can fight for someone you love," said Conga who had joined in halfway through the fight to listen.

"But you were just mental, this fight was to save a whole kingdom," said Jelani.

"Now now, people fight for many different reasons, Conga felt the death penalty was right for her foe she just didn't expect him to be so tough, just like Homer," said Kijani.

"But it's so sad to think that she will be going home without her father now," said Kali with the look of sadness.

"Did I even say he was dead?" asked Kijani with a raised eyebrow.

"You said he wasn't moving when Lisa called to him," said Asha.

"I did but you do need to hear the rest of it before getting upset over it," said Kijani.

He stared at the cubs, Jelani now had his paws on his mouth, Kali and Zuri had their mouths and eyes wide open, while Asha and Layla gulped not sure they wanted to hear coming up next. Conga only laughed at them but was still willing to listen. Kijani only continued.

* * *

Lisa ran forward and dug her head into her father's mane, tears flowing freely down her face. She had only felt satisfied for a moment, now she felt that her whole world had fallen apart and now she was going home without her father.

"Please wake up Daddy," she said between sobs.

Bart only watched beside her, tears falling down his face. He had almost tripped over him after pretending to scare the jackals off and was shocked to see the damage done by Dajan's sharp claws. Though it did make him wonder how Dajan turned out, too bad he was now at the bottom of an abyss.

"You can't leave us Dad, you just can't," said Lisa as she continued to hug his mane. It felt so soft and comforting it made her wish her father had always had this loving and warm feeling. But maybe he did, she just never felt it.

She wished now that she was back home, safely in her room, with her cat Snowball on her lap or trying her hardest to play the saxophone quietly. She wanted to be learning in school, dreaming of the college she wanted to go to. Instead she lay there as the rain fell upon her next to what was left of her father, the only person she wished she would have said "I love you" to more than she had. He had been so brave, taking blows that would have killed a human the first time around.

"L-Lisa?" said a weak voice beside her.

Lisa perked her ears up at the voice, it sounded like her father but she could not see his ghost any where as she looked up. She looked over at Bart who gave a small smile toward her. Lisa looked at her father and that's when she noticed that his head was slightly raised looking up at her and giving a half smile.

"Dad, you're still alive?" Lisa said in an excited yet questioning voice.

Homer let out a pained grunt and moved his paw a little before responding. "That depends… did we win?" he asked.

"We did Dad, Dajan is gone, the pride is safe," said Lisa.

Homer let out a weak smile and then gave a heavy sigh, Dajan really did a number on him but he was alive and to Lisa, that was all that mattered.

"I'm proud of you Lisa,……you did something not many others would do," said Homer.

"And I'm proud of you Dad, you saved our lives and gave us time," said Lisa.

"Though you are a bloody mess," interrupted Bart.

"Shuttup boy, I'm trying to have a bonding moment without you ruining it," said Homer as he gave Bart the annoyed look he always gave his son when he did something wrong. Bart only sneered.

"Just don't ever do that again Lisa, you worried us so much, I didn't realize I could worry that much," said Homer as he lifted up a paw and patted his daughter on the head.

"But hey at least we had an interesting vacation," said Lisa.

"And it looks like it won't be over for a while," said a voice from behind them.

Lisa and Bart turned around to see Ramla walking over, behind her came Latif and Marge who quickly ran over to see if her husband was alright.

"Oh Homey, what in the world happened?" asked Marge as she carefully bent down to hug him knowing that he was quite sore.

"I was in a cat fight, and it wasn't girly," said Homer proudly while trying to get up only to wobble a little, he was about to collapse back down but Latif quickly ran over and helped him slowly rise.

"Don't try to get up too fast Homer, go slowly, you've been through quite an ordeal," said Ramla as she inspected his injuries touching one on his shoulder making him whimper. "Oh don't be a baby."

"Where is Dajan any way?" asked Latif.

"Down that hole, he's gone now, you never have to worry about him again," said Lisa proudly.

"Finally, that burden is lifted, I thought it would never end," said Latif with a happy sigh.

"And you have Lisa to thank for that, such a brave human you are Lisa," said Ramla.

Lisa only smiled as Marge came forward and gave her a loving hug. She had saved the lions of Africa just by accepting Ramla's proposal and never giving up. Both knew though that the real hero was Homer who kept Dajan out of the way until prophecy had been fulfilled though it did leave him in quite a sorry state. And Bart of course was a great help, he was the best big brother a little sister could ask for.

"Well I say we should get out of this rain and head to my tree to clean you up, you might need to stay with me for a few days so you can rest. Latif hopefully won't mind you all staying a bit longer," said Ramla to Homer who was now standing up straight but only with the help of Marge and Latif to support him.

"I won't mind at all, in fact there should be a celebration once Homer has recovered from all this," said Latif.

"Just as long as it does not involve you and me playing egg bowling, that was just embarrassing," said Homer.

"Ha ha, don't worry I won't make you do that again," said Latif.

Marge only rolled her eyes at the statement, that had been such a weird night she was surprised Homer even remembered it, but it was all in the past and now they would be going home very soon. She was just happy her husband was alive and soon followed Ramla back to the tree. Homer slowly limped while Bart ran around in circles beside them.

"Dad?" asked Bart after he had run around Marge and Latif for some time.

"Yes son?" sighed Homer.

"When you get better do you think you can teach me that one move where you grabbed Dajan and pulled him back toward you, it looked so cool when you did it," said Bart enthusiastically.

"Sure son,…….. maybe tomorrow," Homer said.

* * *

"And so Homer lived and Lisa felt more willing to do things that were tough, it required some thinking but none were ever like that adventure she had with the lions," said Kijani as he finished, or at least thought he had.

"Wait it can't be over, what about her and Khalil, I could tell those two were an item and I bet it was hard to say goodbye to each other," said Kali.

"And what's that story behind Homer and egg bowling I missed that one," said Conga curiously.

"Actually he didn't even tell us that story," said Layla.

"Oh it was just a silly story involving Homer and an ostrich, I'll tell it some other time when you all want to hear a quick story," said Kijani.

"But more importantly I want to know if Khalil ever knew about Lisa and who she really was," said Kali who gave that look like she wanted to hear it now or she would be a very angry cub.

"Okay I'll tell you all then, don't get so upset, there is a story behind that but that is only saved if someone does question it. And so I will start out with the night before the family left. It had been a few weeks until Ramla felt Homer was fit enough to go home, and they had a wonderful celebration in their honor. There was a delicious meal of several yummy herbivores, games made up by Ramla, dancing and of course the song that many sing after big battle has been fought," said Kijani.

"Oh you mean It's Time?" asked Jelani.

"You've heard of it?" asked Kijani.

"Yeah, Jabir taught it to us once," said Asha.

"Kairu and Mahiri sing it from time to time in their choir," said Conga.

At the sound of their name both Kairu and Mahiri appeared with big smiles on their face, they wanted to sing it. Kijani smirked, he was not expecting this.

"Well then why don't we go ahead and sing it, before I end my story," said Kijani.

Conga looked at Kairu and Mahiri. The two looked at each other before Mahiri, started to whistle chants that went with rhythm to the music. The cubs tapped their tales ready to sing when they needed to. Then Kairu began.

"**The sun is shining, the children laughing, playing, full of dreams to find.**

**They all remind me, when I was a little boy full of life and pride.**

**They look so peaceful**!" He began.

"**Moshanyana weso bo' itumele!" (My brother be happy)** Sang Layla, Asha, Kali, and Zuri.

"**So sweet and graceful**!" sang Kairu.

"**Ngwana weso bo' ithabisa" (My sister celebrate)** Sang Jelani and Kijani.

"**They're all so hopeful!"** sang Kairu.

"**Moshanyana weso bo' itumele!" (My brother be happy)** Layla, Asha, Kali, and Zuri sang once again.

"**And there is no need for crying.**

**No need for fighting.**

**It's Time!**" Sang Kairu.

"**Itabise!" (Celebrate)** The cubs all sang in unison.

"**And this is meant to be your day shine!**" sang Kairu.

"**Itabise!**" The cubs shouted louder this time.

"**And in your heart you'll know its time!**" Kairu chanted.

"**Itabise!**" The cubs yelled again.

"**For you to take your place**," said Kairu.

"**Itabise**!"

"**Sometimes I wonder, why people always seem to turn around and loose their way.**

**Look out your window, be grateful for this day and make a change.**

**It's okay.**

**To be peaceful!**" Kairu continued.

"**Moshanyana weso bo' itumele!" (My brother be happy)** Zuri, Asha, Kali, and Layla sang.

"**And to be Hopeful**!"

"**Ngwana weso bo' ithabisa" (My sister celebrate)** Sang Jelani and Kijani.

"**It's sweet and graceful**!"

"**Moshanyana weso bo' itumele!" (My brother be happy)** Zuri, Asha, Kali, and Layla sang.

"**And there is no need for crying.**

**No need for fighting.**

**It's Time!"**

And so the cubs continued with the chorus for a quite a while, it caused the rest of the pride to come and see what was going on, after a while they joined in. Kijani finally had to end it by reminding them that there was a story to finish. It took them a while to listen but they soon got the message.

* * *

The celebration lasted many hours that evening and everyone had a great time including Lisa and Khalil who both danced together beside the fire that Ramla created. Khalil and Lisa and bonded quite well since she had arrived and secretly Khalil had fallen in love with her, he hoped that when morning came he would find a way to talk her into staying with the pride and they would start one of their own once they got older. Lisa could sense that Khalil had fallen for her and secretly she wished he hadn't for she knew that her goodbye to him would be a heavy burden.

When morning did arrive, the pride said their goodbyes to the four family members, all but Khalil who had hid in some bushes and watched them say goodbye. His heart was heavy and his eyes watered as he watched the lion he fell in love with leave his life forever, or at least until he was kicked out of the pride.

Once the family had separated from the pride, Khalil waited a moment until they were over a rise and then he ran as fast as he could toward them.

"Lisa!" he cried.

Lisa turned around to see Khalil running toward her, she could see tears falling down his face and she knew this was not going to be easy.

"Lisa, will you stay with me, we could have a pride together some day, just us two, rulers of our own land," said Khalil.

Lisa looked at her parents, Marge only gave a warm smile while Homer looked at her nervously, the idea of his daughter living out the rest of her days was not something he was prepared to deal with. He did not want to worry about her every day and wonder if a poacher suddenly captured her. He knew he would not be fighting to save her if that happened.

Lisa gave a sad sigh. "Khalil I would love to, but my parents would be so heartbroken if I left them…" she began but Khalil quickly interrupted.

"Then I can come with you, and once we are older we can set up our own pride and have kids," said Khalil hopefully.

"Khalil, I would love to but…." She began again but Khalil was persistent.

"We could even name our first born son after your dad, or even your brother for that matter, it would be great, we would live in paradise, have our own shaman, and we would be known as King Khalil and Queen Lisa, and we could keep the prophecy you did a secret, no one would know you saved everyone," said Khalil.

Lisa's eyes were now getting misty, she did not want to resort to this, she did not want to tell him any thing but now his persistence was getting out of hand.

"Khalil I can't, I already have someone waiting for me," said she finally said tears falling down her face.

Khalil stood there, silent for a moment unable to speak; when he finally did it was more of a whisper. "What's his name then?" he asked.

"Colin," said Lisa, her head down with shame.

Khalil stared at her, his love for her now gone, his heart suddenly felt bitter for her, he wanted to swipe at her, he wanted to find this Colin and fight him for Lisa. He wished he could find a way to change the young girls mind but also knew that love was something that could not be forced. It made him jealous, he knew it but he could not control his tongue.

"Well fine then, go grow up with your stupid friend Colin, I bet he knows all about that prophecy, but did I see him help you at all, no he's somewhere far away, too afraid to show his face. And you know what I hope I never see your ugly face again!" Khalil said angrily before turning around.

"Hey don't you speak to my daughter that way!" growled Homer as he moved forward ready to give this young man a nice talking to.

"Homer, anger does not solve this problem, let me talk to him," said Ramla as she patted his shoulder and then took Khalil aside to speak to him.

Lisa watched from far away, tears streaming down her face, wishing with all her heart that going home would not come to this. She had so much fun with the pride for almost a month, making friends with the lions, even Kanzi who gained a new respect for her when she came back from the canyon. She got to learn all about healing herbs while Ramla patched up her father, and Ramla even told her fun stories from the creatures of the land, they were very different from her human stories back home. It was the same feeling she had in the beginning, only this time she felt terrible.

"Lisa you might need to say goodbye with Ramla in front of you," said Marge.

Lisa looked at her family, they were all nodding toward the baboon and lion that she had fallen in love with, a mistake that now made her feel terrible. Slowly she padded toward Ramla and Khalil and when she got closer she noticed that Khalil was looking curiously at her. Lisa looked at both with wonder before Khalil finally spoke up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Khalil.

"Because so much had gone on, I just forgot about him," said Lisa.

"No, that you are human," said Khalil simply.

Lisa stared at Khalil and then at Ramla who had the look of sadness on her face. She really did not want to resort to telling him but she had no choice, he had to know.

"Because you wouldn't have believed me," said Lisa.

"At least I would have thought you were crazy and then I would have left you alone, now look what happened, my heart hurts for you now and I will never stop thinking about you, even after you walk on only two legs," said Khalil tears flowing down his face like a faucet.

"Maybe one day we will meet again, and our love will be just as strong," said Lisa.

"That's true, you may never know," said Ramla.

Khalil let out a sniffle before he moved forward and gave Lisa a big lick on the cheek. "Maybe one day, but perhaps if I see you as a human, maybe I won't feel the same way for you any more," said Khalil.

"Then come with me, we must go to a far away place and do it where the rest of the pride cannot see," said Ramla.

Quietly the family and Khalil followed Ramla to a lonely location near a tree. For a moment Ramla sat their with her stick thinking about the chant she needed to say before beginning, Khalil watched beside her wondering what Lisa would be like as a creature he never wanted to meet. Finally Ramla chanted and for a few moments there was nothing but dust until finally the air was clear again and there before the baboon and the lion stood four humans, two adults and two children, one as bald as a new born mouse.

"Aww I'm gonna miss that mane," said Homer as he rubbed his head.

Lisa stared at her father before turning to Khalil, he was much smaller than she was now, and he looked up at her with frightened eyes.

"Khalil, it's me, too bad I cannot make you my pet, then we would be together but it's not allowed where I live. I do hope we meet again someday," said Lisa.

Khalil only stared for a moment before finally running off in another direction back to the pride, he did not look back.

"Maybe someday," said Ramla.

"Yeah maybe," said Lisa with a sigh.

And with that the baboon and humans parted and went their own separate ways home. Ramla to her tree, The Simpson's to Springfield.

"I wonder what everyone will think of us being home late?" asked Bart.

"Eh we'll just tell them we got sucked into the rift valley and got attacked by monsters," said Homer.

"Oh yeah like they'll really believe that one," chuckled Marge

"Eh we have a long flight, we can think of something," said Homer.

They were only a mile away now from the urban jungle, the place they had not been to for almost a month, home was just around the corner, a place where adventures were not as dangerous as the one they just had. Lisa slowly walked behind her parents and brother, head down, tears falling slowly. She was a human who saved the life of lions yet she felt strangely empty and alone. When they were almost to the city, Lisa turned around and stared back at the savanna, a breeze swept in making her hair go in all directions. She watched the creatures of the savanna move off and the grass sway and at the same time she wished she would see Khalil one last time. But he was long gone; maybe someday they would meet again though. She then turned around and disappeared into the urban jungle.

* * *

"I hope Khalil doesn't end up like Scar," said Asha as the story finished.

"Yeah the poor kid," said Jelani.

"One day I will tell you a tale of what happened to him later in life but not now, all I know is that I am exhausted from telling this tale and I bet you are all too," said Kijani.

The cubs looked at each other; they were a little but now they were questioning the fate of Khalil and if he ever had a mate.

"You promise you will tell us someday?" asked Kali.

Kijani only nodded and yawned. The cubs quickly yawned back.

"Well let me take you to your mothers, tomorrow is another day with possibly another story," said Kijani.

The cubs nodded in agreement and slowly made their way to the pride for a good nights rest.

* * *

A/N: One of these days, my endings with Kijani won't sound the same, I apologize for those, it's so annoying. Any way yeah I know that ending was a little bit heartbreaking and I am not that happy with it I don't think it came out the way I wanted it to be. But don't worry I have a fun little plan with Khalil in a few chapters from now where the cubs actually make up their own story about what happened to him. I hope you all enjoyed the song. And I hope you enjoyed this little story. The next chapter will go back to the normal routine of just a one chapter story. It might be a little longer for the next chapter since I really want to draw Homer as a lion and put it up at Deviant Art so be on the look out for that.

See you all around and don't forget to review.


	15. The Hornbill With the Golden Beak

An early afternoon rain shower had come, surprising most of the pride and sending everyone back to pride rock, soaking wet but refreshed. No one complained, even though it had been raining for almost a month now, everyone welcomed it knowing that an even longer drought would show up in three months. Kijani and Hondo entered the cave with the cubs in tow, Kijani shook the rain off while the cubs ran to their mothers to get cleaned off and warm.

"I love sudden rain showers," Hondo said happily as he started to lick his leg.

"Yeah it's so refreshing, no doubt a story is in order soon though," said Kijani.

The cubs did not say anything, they only gave their story teller a sly smile knowing they would get one shortly. At least until their bath was done.

Kijani started to wash himself when Conga, Mahiri and Kairu suddenly appeared soaking wet. Even though the birds enjoyed flying in the rain, Kijani could sense Conga was not in the mood for it and her angry face showed it.

"Oh Conga she is still young, she might change her mind one day," said Kairu as he landed.

"Yeah, remember how you changed your mind for a while," said Mahiri.

"Yeah but I had a reason too, that little brat would rather cause trouble," said Conga as she fluffed up her feathers making her bigger than she appeared to be.

"What's wrong now?" asked Kijani.

"Oh Chiku my niece is not that interested in taking over for me once I'm gone, she said it doesn't seem as interesting as she had first thought," said Conga.

"What about your nephew?" asked Hondo.

"Mopati wants to follow in his fathers footsteps and I am fine with that, he was the first hatched of this new brood so Dinari gets to teach him," said Conga.

"Finding a successor can be tough, but don't worry I bet things will change sooner or later, who knows you might find someone else for the job," said Kijani.

"Yeah perhaps, I guess I shouldn't worry too much, I have a few more months before she decides to up and leave, and children's minds are like a river, always running," said Conga as she stared at the four cubs who then rolled their eyes.

"And we are all guilty of that," said Kijani.

"Yup and since I am here and stuck because of the rain I might as well ask if you are going to tell a story," said Conga.

"I was going to once the children are done with their bath," said Kijani.

"Can I pick a topic?" asked Conga.

"Sure you can, the cubs pick one all the time, it's a nice change of pace," said Kijani.

"In that case I want to hear a story involving a hornbill, I don't care what the genre is, I just want to hear one," said Conga.

"Well there are many but there is one that is probably more fun to listen to than the rest because it has a good lesson," said Kijani.

"What kind of lesson?" asked Jelani while his face was all scrunched up because his mother was cleaning his face.

"A lesson on how not to be self centered, arrogant, or selfish," said Kijani.

"….Go on," said Conga sounding interested.

Kijani smiled at her curiosity and began the story.

* * *

As most of you know, a king is always in need of a good advisor, one that is strong, smart, and one that is not too nosy when it comes to finding out things in the land. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes not so much. But the best advisors are the ones who are humble and are not too demanding when it comes to helping out the king when he cannot do it himself.

Tawfiki was the best example of this, he had been King Akbar's advisor since the day he became king, for he was also Akbar's father's advisor as well. He was an old bird but still had a lot of flight left in him. He was up bright and early in the morning, making sure all the herds were doing well for themselves and he followed Akbar through the land until it was too dark to see what was going on.

Now this story is not about Tawfiki though, but about his son who everyone called Midas, he had another name before that but no one could remember it and that was fine with Midas because he liked his name he had heard it before from the local shaman who told him the story of a rich human named Midas and Midas had hoped to be rich like him one day.

Because his father was the king's advisor, Midas believed that he could do whatever he wanted inside the land. He bossed everyone around, took things that were not his, and often spread gossip around that was definitely not true, it usually ended in Akbar trying to sort things out.

Because of this, Tawfiki did not want his son to become the next successor of advisors, he had never told his son that though because Midas never listened and getting through to him was like talking to someone on the other side of a brick wall.

Not only was Midas spoiled but he was also very selfish, he would often go around boasting about how much better he was compared to the other animals and proclaim how silky and shiny his feathers were. But what he loved most about himself was his beak, to him there was no flaw in it and the way he talked about it made others want to rip it off his face so he could somehow be miserable.

Even his own father could not stand it and after being annoyed by his son's selfishness long enough, he went to the local shaman to ask for advice. Now the local shaman was also a very humble fellow, very quiet too and not as flamboyant as many shamans that you see today. He was a ratel or honey badger and his name was Njiru. (Pronounced Gee-roh) It was rare for a honey badger to be that quiet and humble but he blamed it on the many meditations he did day by day and the special honey he made for himself.

"Is there any thing you can do about my son?" asked Tawfiki after he gave the poor shaman a list of complaints about his own son.

"I know how you feel Tawfiki for I have also spent time with your selfish son and he angers me just as much as he angers you, I know how hard it is for a father to come to someone and complain about their own brood so I will think of something and hopefully your soon will change his attitude in time," said Njiru.

Now even though Njiru was humble he was very clever, so coming up with an idea did not take him long, he soon sent a friend of his, a mongoose to trick the young hornbill.

It happened one morning when Midas was staring down at himself in a waterhole admiring his feathers and trying his best to shine his beak hoping to impress anyone he saw that day.

"My goodness you do have quite a lovely beak," said the mongoose as he made his way to the gullible hornbill.

"Isn't it though, look at how shiny it is, and how soft," said Midas as he let the mongoose touch his beak. The mongoose rubbed his paw against it for a moment, it slid right off and he gave a mock smile.

"Why I have never seen such a soft beak and I even touch a hawks once while trying to save my darling wife but alas all I saved was a lock of her hair and felt that cold slippery beak," said the mongoose.

"Yes they do have lovely beaks, but not as handsome as mine," said Midas completely ignoring the story about his late wife which was most likely not true.

"Ah but I bet it can be more handsome if it were made of gold like that stuff the humans mine around here," said the mongoose.

"Yes I…." began Midas until he realized what the mongoose was saying. He stared back down as his beak and then imagined it even shinier, with gleaming yellow from the beautiful gold that he had often found lying in the dirt.

"Yes that would make me even more handsome," said Midas.

"Too bad you can't do that though," said the mongoose.

"Yes too bad my beak isn't brilliant but I believe someone else can help me with that, do you know Njiru?" asked Midas.

"I do," said the mongoose.

"I bet that because he is a shaman he could do anything with that magic of his, so I will go ask him and become he most handsome and richest in the land just like my father only he is not as handsome as I am," said Midas as he began to fly away and find Njiru. The mongoose only slapped his head; he could not believe how gullible the young hornbill was and could not wait to see what would happen to him.

Midas flew to see Njiru who was sitting around in his cave painting images of Akbar's pride, usually when a creature entered his cave, he would quietly greet them and give them a metaphor about life but Njiru knew that Midas would only ignore it and talk about things he did not care for.

"Hello Njiru the advisors wonderful son is here to see you," said Midas.

Njiru only rolled his eyes before turning to see the young hornbill. "Hello Midas, you are looking well today, and your beak is spectacular," said Njiru pretending he had no idea what Midas would want.

"Isn't it though, but I do believe it can be more spectacular!" said Midas excitedly.

"Oh how so?" asked Njiru.

"I was talking with a mongoose today, and he said my beak would be more spectacular if it was gold, so I would like my beak to be gold," said Midas getting right to the point without saying please or even "do you think you can?"

"Ah but do you remember the story of the human your name is based off of?" asked Njiru.

"Of course, everything he touched turned to gold and he lived a happy life," said Midas.

Njiru sighed, he knew that Midas didn't listen to the ending of the story or it's moral. The story goes that after Midas touched something, it would turn solid gold, well the wish backfired and when he touched food or water it would turn to gold as well so he could not eat anything and decided it was best to end what he wished for.

"Yes I guess that's the story then," said Njiru who knew better than to argue with the young hornbill, he would learn his lesson eventually, or at least he hoped so any way.

"So will you turn my beak into gold, I really want to show it off before it gets dark," said Midas excitedly.

Njiru stared at Midas for a moment and then dug around for various concoctions on how to make him look different. When he finally found what he needed, he mixed it into a bowl and began to chant.

"Now hold still, you move too much this might sting," said Njiru.

Midas held as still as he could, while he did that, he saw white smoke envelope his beak until he could not see it again for almost five minutes. When the cloud finally settled, Midas noticed that his beak was now very shiny and glistening.

"Wow its beautiful," said Midas.

"Yes it is, now remember be careful, this beak can get very heavy so if someone sneaks up behind you don't turn your head too fast," said Njiru.

"Yeah yeah whatever you say wise one," said Midas who then flew out of the cave and into the bright sunshine without even saying thank you.

Midas was now very proud of his new beak and flew straight over to his father who was busy helping Akbar solve a small waterhole issue.

"Look at me Dad, look at how glorious I look," said Midas as he moved his beak up and down to make sure both Tawfiki and Akbar would be blinded by the reflection from the sun.

"My goodness son, don't you think that's a little too much, I'd worry about it getting too heavy," said Tawfiki as he tried to shield the beak away from his eyes.

"It's not too heavy for me, I love it, now everyone will notice me and complement me," said Midas with his chest out proudly.

"Yes I see that but make sure you don't startle the meerkats you know how they scare easily," said Akbar.

"Oh you guys are such party poopers, now excuse me while I go out and get myself some grub," said Midas who then flew away leave both Akbar and Tawfiki shrugging their shoulders wondering what the heck had just gone on.

Now Midas had the golden beak on him for quite a while, the first week he had a lot of fun with it, polishing it in the waterhole, showing it off to everyone including a lady friend who admired him but could not stand him in any way, shape or form. Of course he did not know that and continued to show it off to her any way. He did end up scaring the meerkats which he only laughed at, and he did end up hitting his mother in the head with his beak after she had come over to surprise him. The poor thing had a black eye for quite a while and Midas only laughed and told her she looked like a pumpkin because it swelled so much.

But it wasn't until a week later when he awoke with a terrible head cold and his beak feeling heavier than normal.

"Oh it must just be one of those days," said Midas to himself believing that the beak would get lighter as the day progressed.

But it didn't happen and for many days he flew around with his head held low, not because he was sad but because the beak was now heavier than anything else. Flying was now difficult and just taking a quick flight from tree to tree was now making him exhausted. He tried to eat a dung beetle to calm make his beak feel better but it did not help and every chew was excruciatingly painful.

On the fifth day of his pain, Midas sat on a rock, wondering if he needed to see Njiru about this or if the problem would go away in time. He loved his new beak but now for some strange reason, he felt empty inside as if being glorious really wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

He decided that he should go see Njiru to talk about the problem but before he could fly away, a leopard pounced on him sending him falling to the ground harder than before because of his heavy beak.

"Please don't eat me, I'm too glorious to be eaten," said Midas.

The leopard only growled as he was blinded a little by the beak. "Oh so you are Midas, the whole kingdom is talking about how stupid you are for turning your beak pure gold," said the leopard.

"That's only because they are jealous," said Midas.

"Hahahahaha! You really are stupid, is the beak heavy now for you?" asked the leopard as he showed his white fangs laughing.

"It is yes, and it's probably because I have a cold, Njiru can fix it," said Midas.

The leopard continued to laugh while Midas only shivered as he stared at the four canines that could do quite a number on him.

"Its not because you have a cold, your beak is pure gold, heavier than your original beak meaning in a few weeks it will become so heavy you won't even be able to fly and then you will be someone's lunch," said the leopard who was now drooling at the thought of eating Midas himself, he knew he would be praised for it, but he also knew that if this hornbill learned his lesson he would possibly be a changed bird.

"Well I did not know gold could be that heavy," said Midas.

"I find that funny because even after you named yourself after King Midas, you still have no idea how heavy gold can be," said the leopard.

"Well that was not mentioned, only that he touched things and he was happy," said Midas.

"Don't you remember that he also could not eat and that he was miserable because of that?" asked the leopard.

"No I don't remember that," said Midas who's jaw was now hurting a little and he was starting to rub it hoping to make it feel better.

"You really need to learn to listen sometimes, everyone is right about you, you really are a selfish freak who should have his wings clipped and his beak broken off," said the leopard.

"Others have said that?" asked Midas who now was trying his hardest not to make a pouty face.

"Yes, and did you realize that that is because you don't have any friends?" asked the leopard.

"No…….oh my goodness you are right, I should go speak to Njiru," said Midas.

The leopard only smiled at Midas's statement, he was finally figuring things out and let him up. Of course the beak was now even heavier so Midas took quite a while to get up off the ground making the leopard chuckle because Midas was finally feeling miserable. Of course it's not very nice to laugh at people's misfortune but you can do it once in a while when they are not really paying attention, and have annoyed you all your life.

It took Midas forever to actually reach Njiru's cave, he did not say anything but let the old badger talk.

"I did try to tell you it wouldn't work," said Njiru.

"I thought it would be great, now it hurts to even talk," said Midas who now had tears falling down his face.

"But now you know what it is like to wish for something you think is the greatest thing in the world but isn't," said Njiru who stared into Midas's face.

"Yes sir, can I have my old beak back now?" asked Midas.

"You may but under a few conditions," said Njiru.

"I'll try to listen more," said Midas.

"Yes that and treat others with the same respect you get, don't act like you own everything because you really don't, stop showing off your beak, its not that great any way its just a place to chew your food and help you breath. Well it is great for that but not for gossiping and telling others how great it is," said Njiru.

"I promise," said Midas who was now holding up his right wing.

"Good, and one more thing, I would like to teach you about etiquette because you don't have any, I have never heard you say please or thank you to anyone," said Njiru.

"Please?" asked Midas confused.

"Exactly," said Njiru.

"I guess I will learn from you then," said Midas.

Njiru only smiled as he began to bring Midas's original beak back the way it was.

Now we must move forward, one year after Midas learned that having a beautiful beak was not so great after all. He was standing next to King Akbar while his own father stood in front of him with a big smile on his face knowing that Midas had done a complete turn around. And because Tawfiki was so proud of his son for his complete turn around, he ended up giving the advisor duty to Midas after all. Originally he was going to give it to a meerkat but he felt that the job was better for someone who didn't hide underground all the time.

"So are you ready to take my position?" asked Tawfiki.

"Yes sir I am," said Midas his chest out happily.

"Very good, do you promise to treat others with respect and dignity and none of this I'm better than you stuff?" asked Tawfiki.

I promise Dad, those days are over, I now know that everyone is special even if their father is not the advisor to a king," said Midas.

"Very good, Njiru taught you well. With that I am now retired and you are now King Akbar's advisor," said Tawfiki.

Midas only smiled, he now had an important duty assigned to him and he would do it as humbly as his father had done, he also hoped to teach his children to behave and he also hoped that they would never fall in love with their beak like he did or he would have to give them a long lecture about being selfish and annoying.

* * *

"And that's why you should never have a golden beak," Kijani said to Conga who sat there her beak wide open while Kairu and Mahiri only chuckled at the silly story.

"That was actually a very good one, I bet if I had kids I would have told them that story," said Kairu.

"Yeah it would have been a good story for my sister Tiki," said Conga.

"I liked it too because it taught that even though we are part of royalty we should not act like a royal pain," said Asha sitting up proudly.

"Yes that is very true, now then I bet we have time for one more tonight," said Kijani.

"Yay!" the cubs said excitedly.

"I think it might need to wait a while Kijani," said Safiya as she stood by the cave entrance, the rain falling heavily near it.

"Why what's wrong?" asked Kijani.

"It's Mazi and he looks really upset," said Safiya.

At the sound of the old giraffes name Kovu and Kiara jumped up along with Haidar and Kijani to see what it was all about. They looked outside in the rain and there he stood, his face full of concern.

"What is it Mazi?" asked Kovu.

Mazi gave an upset grunt before responding "I can't find Kifaa, and she is due any time now!"

* * *

A/N: There you go a chapter that brings on the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed that one, it was probably really clichéd but what are you gonna do. The next one hopefully won't be and I cannot wait to do it. I won't tell you much but if you haven't already figured it out it will involve giraffes. Also my next chapter will be the last for a while, I'm gonna go on Hiatus here for a while and go do other things mainly Simpson stories which you are all welcome to join in and read. I do promise to be back with more. Any way here are the name meanings.

Chiku: Chatterer

Mopati: Helper

Tawfiki: Divine Guidance (yes I am aware it sounds like Rafiki)

Akbar: Greater

Njiru: Black one (Honey badgers are black with a wide stripe on their head, I just thought it fit him)

Well see you all around. If anyone is interested, feel free to visit my Deviant art site, I have drawn Homer as a lion. Well please don't forget to review and have a nice week.


	16. To Run Again

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to a giraffe at the zoo I work at named Laikipia A.K.A Luke, who passed away on June 20th 2007 after suffering for many years from degenerative joint disease and arthritis. We believe he was about twenty-six when he died but we are not sure since he was wild caught. He was a very prolific breeder, producing 37 offspring including his daughter Laikipia who was born a few hours before he died and Azmera who was born a month after he died. So enjoy.

* * *

Hondo was the one who actually found Kifaa; he had gone out behind the cave to make dirt when he heard grunting nearby. It wasn't long before he saw the young giraffe standing in the cave Scar used to be in, she looked exhausted but determined.

He then ran to find Kijani and as luck would have it, he was standing by the entrance with Kovu, Kiara, Haidar, Safiya, and Conga and they were all trying to calm Mazi down.

"She is behind Pride Rock if it's Kifaa you are looking for," said Hondo as he ran back into the cave to dry off.

"Was she okay?" asked Mazi.

"I think she is about to give birth, she was grunting an awful lot," said Hondo.

Mazi looked at the lions with worry, he was always like this when a calf of his was about to be born, no matter how alert the mother was. And like always he wanted Jabir.

"Can someone get Jabir so he can help with the delivery?" asked Mazi.

"I'll go," said Safiya knowing how Mazi was at a time like this and before anyone could object, she was racing toward Jabir's tree so he could help with the birth.

Mazi then limped his way over behind Pride Rock with the other lions and Conga behind him ready to watch and make sure everything went okay. It was a rare event for something other than a lion to give birth so close to the cave, so naturally the King and Queen felt it was right for them to watch. When they arrived, Kifaa was circling around trying to stimulate the baby to come out. They quickly saw two small hooves poking out between the hind legs and they all knew that it was almost time.

"Are you okay Kifaa?" asked Mazi as he approached her cautiously.

"I'm fine Mazi……its just……gonna be…. A while," she said as she pushed, and backed away from Mazi so she could have more room and not have him breathing down her neck.

"Now remember to breath deep, then the baby will come out quicker," said Mazi as he tried to remain calm.

"Don't worry Mazi, she is doing great, though how you creatures can give birth standing up makes me nervous," said Kiara being the mother that she was.

"Yeah I'd worry about head trauma," said Kovu.

Mazi looked at Kovu shocked and worried, even though he had seen this done many times before.

"Kovu, stop scaring him, he needs to relax and celebrate the miracle of life, not worry about head trauma," said Conga.

"Sorry," said Kovu nervously.

It wasn't long before Jabir finally showed up with a few herbs, ready to help at any moment. He watched Kifaa circle as the calf slowly made its way into the world, everything seemed fine to him but of course he had to humor Mazi and stay put.

"Is everything okay?" asked Mazi nervously.

"The baby should come soon, don't worry, Kifaa is very healthy, and her spirit is strong. I don't know about the baby yet but we will find out once it tries to stand," said Jabir in a calming voice that was enough to relax Mazi a little bit more.

"Sorry Jabir, you know how I am after my third calf, the one that Tsinga had, I just couldn't bare waiting for it to stand up, then the four others from other mates, it was heart breaking wondering if they were ever going to move. I would just rather know right away what is going on," said Mazi.

"I know Mazi, I know. You know for someone as tough as you, you sure are a softy when it comes to birth," said Jabir.

"I know it's because children make me all happy inside," said Mazi with a sigh.

Jabir only smiled as he continued to watch. For about an hour Kifaa circled and grunted, pushing the new life out a few inches at a time. The lions stayed nearby to watch what was going on while Conga kept closing her eyes at the sight of all that afterbirth. Jabir even commented that she would probably faint at the sight of her own hatching.

Finally, an hour and a half later, the baby dropped six feet and landed on the smooth dirt below. Everyone gasped at what they saw as Kifaa turned around and bent down to check on the baby, for only a few seconds, but for eternity to Mazi, the baby did not move.

"Oh no!" said Mazi nervously. Jabir only bopped him on the head and pointed at the calf. It moved its head.

"The calf is alive Mazi don't worry," said Kifaa as she nudged the baby with her hoof.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Kijani excitedly.

"I don't know yet, but we will find out once it's all the way up," said Kifaa.

Everyone watched as the young calf tried to stand for the first time, bringing its front hooves up a little and then trying to lift the back legs, only to slide back down with its legs all spread out in a comical way. Everyone smiled.

The calf tried again this time holding still for a moment with its front legs up and then slowly finding a good footing with its back legs. This time it stood all the way up before loosing balance and falling on its side. Kifaa chuckled warmly and licked the top of its head.

"You are doing fine young one, keep trying," she said warmly.

The calf tried again, it didn't go far though when a sudden clap of thunder from outside scared it and it slid back down looking up at its mother nervously.

"It's only thunder young one, it will not hurt you," said Kifaa as she licked the calf again.

So for the next hour, everyone watched as the calf slowly made its way on all fours, falling down every time, but they all knew that that was what happened when a giraffe first entered the world. They have to learn to stand right away or be eaten by a predator. Finally, a little less than an hour later, the little calf was able to stand upright and wobble only a little before making its way to its mothers side for milk. Kifaa watched it nuzzle her and began to lick it to dry it off.

"It's a boy," she finally said.

"Wonderful and he looks so healthy," said Jabir.

Mazi held his head up high, smiling the best he could over his new son, the one he had been waiting to appear for a long time.

I think he's bigger than you Kijani," said Haidar with a grin.

"He'll probably kick me in the face if I even try to bite him," said Kijani knowing all about how tough a giraffe hoof was.

"Yes and we don't want the story teller to loose his jaw now do we," said Jabir with a chuckle.

Kijani smirked at Jabir and then continued to watch the calf with fascination; he had never seen this one so young. Usually the ones he had seen had fully formed Oscicones, this one only had a tuft of fur on the top of his head where his oscicones would form in about two months. In the meantime, he looked too cute for words, all wrinkly and fuzzy.

"What are you going to call him?" asked Conga.

"Oh we don't name our calves until they are a little older, we like to think of a good name for them," said Kifaa with a tired sigh, all this birthing had worn her out.

"Good reason," said Haidar.

"Now that everything is under control, I say we let the little family rest in peace," said Jabir.

"No they are fine, besides Kijani is here, perhaps you can give our little one his first story," said Mazi.

Kijani looked at the calf, he seemed to have no interest in a story right now, but he knew that it was Mazi who actually wanted to hear a story. Jabir told him that Mazi had wanted to speak to him about one for a while.

"Well I do have a few giraffe stories, but there is one in particular that you might be interested in," said Kijani.

"Oh what's it about?" asked Mazi.

"It's about the circle of life, and how one person's life has ended while another begins. How the one who is ending his life thinks about the past and how the others will move on without him," said Kijani.

"Go on," said Mazi.

* * *

"It's a girl Luke, a healthy girl," I heard Uhura say from the farthest pen.

"That's good," I said with a tired sigh. I knew the calf would be fine, most of them were, we had good zookeepers they knew how to keep a newborn calf healthy. They knew when it was a good time to bring the calf out and see the rest of the herd, and they knew when it was a good time for them to leave the herd and take them far away, where exactly I have never found out.

I give a pained sigh, my legs and my shoulders are aching more than ever these days, and how I even managed to give life into Uhura those fifteen months ago is beyond me. I used to be so fast doing that but now it takes me longer and the girls become impatient.

I stare at the corner of the wall, wishing with all my heart to feel young again, to run with the herd, for my body to no longer ache. I know that is no longer the case, as the summers come and go, you become older and there is nothing you can do about it, everything begins to crumble just like an old wall. Oh how I wish for more of that stuff in the dry crackers they give me, it tastes terrible but it also eases the pain. They give me the same amount all the time, only it doesn't seem enough any more.

The zookeepers seem to be noticing this, my strides are slower, it takes me forever to get from one side of the pen to the other and they are no longer afraid of me kicking them, kicking is too painful for me to do any way, and I have been with them long enough to know that they are doing good for me. Because of my slowness, I haven't been out much, it takes too long and I just don't feel like moving very far any more. So I just stand in the corner in my pen, thinking about the good old days when I used to run with no problem at all. A healthy leader in his prime, with all the dreams in the world.

I wasn't born in this pen though; I was born far away in a place that is so different from where I am now. I lived where there were no bars to keep me away from other things, I lived in a small herd with my mother and we would run as fast as our hearts desired, as far as we could until we could run no more. Oh how I miss that so much, I wanted to run again, I wanted to see my mother and my herd again and run as far as I could, run to the little waterhole I liked to drink from, where the elephants often played with us and the zebras often shared stories with us.

I was only a year old when I was separated from my mother, the humans came and captured me, they gave me something that put me to sleep and when I came to, I was where I am now, behind bars. Well I was almost in the same place.

My first home was smaller, older and smellier probably because we were in the same building as the elephants, those creatures never learned much about personal hygiene. I was still too young to understand love so I usually played with the giraffes my age. Running through the yard as fast as we could, while at the same time humoring young children by grabbing crackers from their hands with our huge tongues.

I remember my first cracker well. I had been with the herd for about a month; the zookeepers separated me for a few days before letting me out with them. And when I finally joined them, I began to notice how they were interacting with the humans. I was reluctant at first until Becky, my mate who I was most close to, introduced me to the humans. I stuck my tongue out as far as I could reach and grabbed that dry cracker from the little human's hand. It squealed with delight while I enjoyed my favorite new treat.

Then there was the change in the seasons, the weather was like my old home at first but suddenly, the days would become colder, and big white dots would fall from the sky. They were puzzling at first but actually quite refreshing as I would stick out my tongue and eat them. In the morning after seeing these dots, the ground would be white; we would all have to stay in until the ground cleared because walking on slippery white stuff was not good for a creature like me with long legs. I did get to step in it once though, it was very cold but it would disappear quickly and it never appeared when it was hot outside.

As the years passed, I began to show my affection for the females. Stretch, the leader of the herd before me would often give me pointers on how to woo a female. He was a great mentor and helped me out a lot; he died only five years after I joined the herd and miss him dearly sometimes. But with his death I became the new leader of the herd and soon my blood coursed through the young giraffes in the pen.

I remember my first calf well, it was a boy, strong and handsome, born during the late summer and I was able to watch him grow along with the two others who were born only a few months afterward. Once they became a year old, like me, they were taken away from us, where they went I still have no idea but one day I hope to meet them again and run with them like how I want to run with my mother.

So for many summers I watched my herd grow with each new calf, I had so many and I was so proud of being the leader and father of my herd. It was hard to see many of them part but I knew it was for the best, our home was overcrowded and not big enough for all of us, that explains why a few of us had to stay indoors sometimes because it was too crowded outside.

But our luck changed one summer when we all moved to a brand new pen. It was wide and open and the perfect place for raising calves. Of course I was reluctant at first but what leader wasn't when they had new surroundings? I was getting very old though by the time we were moved, already my legs were feeling sore and tired but I was still spry and willing to lead the heard and bring about more calves.

For a few years I stayed out in the main yard with everyone, enjoying our new home and watching the humans admire us from afar or close up by taking the crackers that we had all come to love and enjoy.

But soon the years changed, my legs soon became weaker and after many years with the herd I was moved to the back pen where I would spend the remainder of my days. I wasn't alone though, I often had some of the members join me, most of the time to create more life, but mostly to just gossip. There was a new male in our herd as well, Mawimbi, I still don't approve of him much but then again I don't think Stretch really approved of me either. Must be a leader thing.

But since last spring I haven't spent time with my herd, the only time I could was later in the day when everyone would come in and I would hear stories of what had gone on. It was very nice to hear stories though some of those stories told of Mawimbi taking over his duties for me.

It took me a while to comprehend but as I have become older I have realized that not everything lasts forever. Just a week ago, Mawimbi was inside in the far pen, far away from me but close enough for me to talk to him and actually have a quiet conversation with him.

I told him my time was short and that I wished him luck throughout the years with my herd, I even admitted that I was not very fond of him but he already figured it out and even joked that he would be like me someday. Kind of depressing to think about but I do hope he does well. He is very friendly and very curious; usually a good combination and most of the females like him, save for Becky who even said that I would always be the one for her. She's as old as I am though, so I can understand. She has a calf on the way, my last one; I just hope it's healthy.

So here I stand in the corner, my body aching as I listen to the zookeepers talk about the new life in the far stall. It's nice to hear something good happened today. A new life has come while the old man sits alone talking about the good old days; Stretch was right when he told me that only a few weeks before he died.

Suddenly, without even realizing it, I feel a small jab on my hind leg, I turn around slowly to find some of the zookeepers standing behind me, looking sad and staring up at me, I don't know what they did but now I feel a little more relaxed and not as achy, but my legs still hurt.

"Come Luke, let's go outside," one of them says as he waves a cracker in front of me.

I stare at the cracker for a moment, I wonder if it has that stuff on it that will make me feel better but this time even more. But then I realize something, it's already the afternoon why would they be letting me out to my pen so late in the day? I haven't been outside in a while though, so maybe they are letting me get some air, that is nice of them.

I have seen other giraffes go out that way and never come back, was I going somewhere new? Perhaps to a place where I would feel better and where the zookeepers could give me bigger crackers that would help me feel better. That would be wonderful.

It took me a while to slowly make my way out, there were more zookeepers watching me today and many of them looked sad. I don't know why and I wish I knew so I could be more prepared for whatever they throw at me.

I finally make it towards the chute, they weigh me like always for a few moments before letting me make my way all the way out. I reach my back pen and step forward, the sand feels softer now, I look down and find that they have new sand down there for me, possibly to help me feel better. It does feel nice it doesn't feel as hard on my feet as before. Maybe this is going to help me.

I stand alone outside for a while, feeling the soft summer air flow around my neck, it was a hot day but the sun is finally going down so I don't have to worry about all this heat. But why am I out here so late? This has never happened before and it feels strange.

For a while I stand there and think about my herd and the beautiful sky around me, I hear some birds chirping and I hear a few zookeepers driving down the hill, it feels so peaceful that I just want to lie down. I haven't done so in a long time, it hurts too much to get back up but this time it feels right and I slowly make my way down to the soft sand, to rest and to sleep in the night air.

Once I am fully down I look toward the hills, the sun is now behind them and the sky is turning pink and yellow, its looks beautiful. I give a deep sigh and quietly watch as the zookeepers come toward me. Their faces still look sad and I don't know why. I let them touch me as they poke at me again; their voices are soft, not like them at all. Usually they are louder and discuss ideas. Today though they are quieter and whisper things that are soon too inaudible to hear.

Suddenly my whole body begins to feel heavy, even my heart as it seems to beat slower and slower, what is going on? This is a strange feeling, everything feels numb yet relaxing. It feels like the pain is finally going away, yet I feel so tired, I just want to close my eyes for just a second. I slowly feel my lids close and take a deep breath.

One second is all it seems to take before I open my eyes again. This time I find myself in a meadow that looks like my old home. I look around and there in front of me is my mother smiling down at me.

"Are you ready to run again Laikipia?" she asks.

"Yes Mother I would love to," I say.

And without any feeling of pain, I get up as if I am a young yearling again and I run, I run toward the old waterhole I grew up near all those years ago. I run towards the setting sun and my old herd. I run to the calves and friends I lost along the way. I finally feel young again and the pain that I suffered through for what seemed like an eternity is finally gone.

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A/N: **Important Authors note please read**

Okay I wish I would have written this chapter last year when he died; I would have probably made it so much better and a bit sadder.

Any way first off I would like to make a complaint. When you review, please don't leave a generic "This was a great chapter, you did a great job, can't wait to see more" Please tell me what you liked about it. I'm really starting to get annoyed by those generic ones because they say the same thing every time. Leave something interesting for me to read or I will hunt you down and bite you or something I really don't know yet.

Also I am going on hiatus now for a while, I will probably put up a new chapter every now and then just for you guys to enjoy. But at the moment I am going over to the Simpson's section to write a story to write "I had a Cat Named Snowball." It will be about Lisa acquiring the first Snowball and some of the fun times they had together. If you would like to join me feel free to come on over and read it, it should be up very soon.

Any way I have no idea if the giraffe before Laikipia was named Stretch, I just thought it was a cool name to give to a giraffe. And I have no idea what really went on when he died, but I tried to do something that was close enough to it. I also have no idea if his first calf was a boy; I just put whatever was on my mind. I only know about the two years I knew him.

Also Kifaa's calf will be seen again later, he is actually a very important character for later so watch out for him. I do have a name for him but I'm a not revealing it until later.

Well I will see you all later, have a nice school year and I will see you when I come up with a new idea. Ttyl for now.


	17. The Little Lamb

A/N: Hey guys! I thought I should do a nice Christmas story for you all, so I hope you all enjoy this one.

* * *

Haidar stood quietly by the waterhole, it had grown much larger since the rains had come, but it still had not overflowed to any large level. At the moment, it was just right and that was what Haidar liked to see. He watched the creatures around him come over for water or to meet up with the rest of the herd, nobody noticed him; everyone knew he was only surveying the place.

Haidar sighed and looked at the sky, today looked to be a dry day; barely any clouds were out, the perfect day to walk the lands. The rainy season was not over yet though; he knew he had at least three more months before the rains really did stop and that was when he would step up to take his mothers place.

He was so deep in thought that he did not know that someone was stalking him; he bent down to get a quick drink but was quickly knocked aside by Kijani. Haidar looked up at his brother with a gasp before getting off and shaking himself.

"Wow you sure scared me," said Haidar.

"Yeah I could tell that you weren't paying much attention to anything other than what was in front of you so I decided to do what I used to do to you when we were just cubs," said Kijani with a smirk.

"Yes you haven't done that to me in forever, now its bringing me back memories," said Haidar.

"Yeah wasn't it great when we were cubs?" asked Kijani who flopped down on the ground and began to give himself a dirt bath. Haidar only watched and gave a quick chuckle.

"Well I know one thing is for sure, you haven't changed a bit," said Haidar.

"Nope, even though we are twins we are exact opposites," said Kijani as he stood up and shook dust all over.

"And that is quite alright, I remember you telling your father before you left that its good to be opposite, then no one would tell us apart," said Haidar with a small chuckle.

Kijani only smiled and gave a quick stretch before Hondo appeared with a juicy rabbit in his jaws.

"Anybody want a snack?" asked Hondo as he set the rabbit down.

Kijani stared at the rabbit before turning to his brother.

"After you," he said.

Haidar sad nothing but took a quick bite to let the others have their share. He was glad he was the first to take a bite because Kijani and Hondo launched themselves on the rabbit until there was nothing left. For a moment he watched the two eat before starting a new conversation.

"So are you telling the cubs a story today?" he asked.

"I plan to, they were playing with Layla and a leopard cub I have never seen before when I left so they must be enjoying the sunshine," said Kijani.

"Oh good, it's always nice to see them outside playing, I hope you don't mind if I join you to listen to the story later though?" asked Haidar.

"No not at all, I was panning on heading back now, you don't have any other plans do you?" asked Kijani.

Haidar only shook his head and followed Kijani and Hondo back to Pride Rock to find the cubs.

When they arrived, they found the four cubs with Layla and they were all arguing with the young leopard cub who stood his ground, trying his hardest not to cry. Jelani was standing in front of the girls and was the one jeering at the young leopard. Haidar let out an angry growl.

"Jelani! And all this time I thought you were better than that," said Haidar in a voice that Kijani had not heard before.

"Well he called me a runt," said Jelani.

"Yeah and he called us stuck up know-it-alls," said Asha.

"And he said I was a carcass licker," said Layla.

The leopard cub was about to speak when they all began to say different things at once. Haidar had never been through anything like this but had watched Azmera handle it. Being the father of one of them he knew he could speak back deeper and more commanding, enough to quiet them all down.

"One at a time!" he growled.

All six cubs stood there in silence, Haidar was only like this when he was annoyed and they knew it was best not to upset him further.

"Now I want to hear it from the leopard cubs side of the story, he looks truthful to me and not a trouble maker, what is your name son and tell me what happened," said Haidar.

"Cyrus s-s-sir, and t-they were p-p-p-p-picking on me b-b-b-because I-I sssstutter w-when I am n-n-nervous," said the little leopard.

Haidar then turned to the cubs who all looked down on the ground, their ears pinned back and their tails between their legs.

"And I thought you kids were better than that especially you Jelani, I thought I raised you better," said Haidar.

Jelani said nothing but only looked up at his father with sad eyes, he had never been in this kind of trouble before and he really did not know how to talk back.

"If you all want to stay friends, I would suggest you all apologize to Cyrus for treating him unfairly, he cannot help it if he has a small handicap, it's the way he was born, everyone is different. And Jelani we are going to have a talk about fairness when you become king," said Haidar.

"Yes father," said Jelani with a dejected look.

"Now apologize," said Haidar.

Jelani stared at Cyrus for a moment. Cyrus only stared back letting some tears fall down his face, he had been treated this way before but today was one of those days when his emotions finally got to him.

"I'm sorry," said Jelani.

"Yeah we all are, we didn't know it would hurt you that much," said Kali for the other two girls.

"Yeah I remember I did that to my brother once and my mother grounded me for a week," said Layla.

"Apology accepted," said Cyrus with a nod.

"Very good, now you all behave or I will send grandpa Kovu after you," said Haidar.

The cubs only chuckled at the statement until Kijani moved forward.

"You know because of what just happened I think now is a good time to tell you a story a young sheep who had the exact same problem like Cyrus only it was much worse," said Kijani.

"Sheep, what's a sheep?" asked Zuri.

"Well…..hmmmm……I guess you can say it's about the size of a Thompson's gazelle only fluffier and all white," said Kijani.

All six cubs tried to picture what a sheep would look like and all of them got a different idea which really looked quite silly.

"Now Cyrus you can listen too if you want," said Kijani.

"I do sir, I have heard of you and I have wanted to hear your tales," said Cyrus.

Kijani smiled, he liked Cyrus's attitude, he was a little like Jelani only shyer and a bit nervous, he hoped the little guy would visit more often. Finally Kijani began to start his tale.

* * *

Now this story happened about two thousand years ago, just to the east of Africa during what many believe to be the cold season but it might have also been during the middle of summer, no one knows for sure they just know it happened and that is good enough for them.

The shepherds lived just outside of the city where the story happened since sheep do not belong in a city, its way too crowded.

Daren was one of those sheep, well a young lamb who was six months old. He wasn't the youngest but he looked it. The shepherds were amazed he even survived his birth and they were amazed he could even walk. Poor Daren had a lame front hoof and because of that he always limped and was never really fast enough for the other lambs. What made it worse was that he also stuttered even when he was happy.

Because of his two handicaps, the young lambs were always laughing at him, calling him names and teasing him till he burst into tears. Usually he would run and hide until he stopped crying and return to his mother. He hated showing his mother that he had been crying because he worried he would get teased for that as well.

Now even though Daren was always picked on by the other lambs of the flock, he still showed compassion to them even if it was the lamb who picked on him the most.

It was one day when Daren was walking by himself when he heard one of the lambs he knew crying for help by a ravine. Daren ran over to investigate and found it to be Ori one of the lambs who was the biggest bully of them all.

"W-W-What's wrong O-O-Ori?" asked Daren.

"My hoof is stuck in this hole, can you please help me out," he said.

Daren limped over to help Ori out of his small predicament but as soon as he arrived, another lamb named Zaki charged him. Daren did not have time to move as Zaki hit him hard in the side, sending him falling down the side of the hill and into a big mud puddle.

All the lambs began to laugh as Daren slowly got out of the mud puddle, covered head to toe in mud. He looked up at the other lambs and gave them an angry stare.

"Can't y-y-y-you guys ever b-b-b-b-be nice t-t-to me?" asked Daren.

"C-C-Can't we be nice to him you guys?" mocked Ori who slid down and started kicking more mud into Daren's face.

"S-S-Stop it!" said Daren with a cry.

"What's that I couldn't hear you over the hissing snake," said Ori.

"Yeah you better watch out for the snake he might bite you," said Zaki.

Finally Daren had enough and stood on all four feet as tall as he could which was really quite a feet for someone as tiny as he was. And while both Ori and Zaki were laughing at him, Daren charged and hit Ori square in the chest. Ori let out a pained grunt as he went flying a few feet, landing heavily on a sharp bush.

"Hey why did you do that to my friend!" said Zaki angrily.

"B-B-Because he w-w-was making fun of m-m-m-me, and he d-d-deserved it," said Daren as he glared at Zaki.

That was when Ori quickly crawled out of the bushes and rammed Daren hard in the side again, sending the poor lamb back down on the ground and the wind knocked out of him.

"You think you can outwit me, you are so wrong," said Ori.

"W-W-Well l-l-l-leave me alone, I c-c-can't help it if I s-s-s-stutter, it was h-h-h-how I was b-b-b-born," said Daren as he tried to get up again.

"And yet I find it hilarious," said Zaki who then pushed poor Daren back into the grass before running as fast as he could with Ori behind him, leaving poor Daren sitting all alone caked in mud.

Daren then began to cry and quickly made his way over to a nearby bush, hoping no one would find him like this until he was feeling better.

But today was one of those days and the poor little lamb would not feel better, even when the sun started to set. His mother of course was very worried about him and started calling for him. He tried his best to hide but it's not easy doing so when you are caked in mud and are very fluffy.

"Daren what are you doing behind that bush?" asked his mother when she finally found him.

"N-N-N-Nothing," said Daren.

"Oh you must be up to something, you haven't come home yet," said his mother.

"T-T-That's because nobody l-l-l-likes me," said Daren.

"Oh and why is that?" asked his mother.

"B-B-B-Because I s-s-s-stutter and have this horrible l-l-l-limp," said Daren.

"And they don't like it that you are different?" asked his mother.

Daren only nodded and rubbed up against his mother's soft fluffy fur. She was the only one who could comfort him and was the only one who never saw any problems in him.

"It's okay sweetheart, I don't think anything is wrong with you, you'll grow out of it one day and when you do everyone will be amazed at how much you've changed," said his mother.

"Yeah but then t-t-t-they will f-f-f-find s-s-s-something else wrong with m-m-m-me," said Daren.

His mother only sighed as she led Daren back to the herd for a long nights rest. Together they slept separated from the herd because that was what Daren wanted. But Daren could not sleep that night, he only stared down at the herd staring at them with angry eyes and wishing the lambs would treat him more kindly. He let out a sigh and turned to the city that was less than a mile away. He would go there one day to be sold off to another shepherd and the place always fascinated him with the houses people lived in.

But this time as he stared at the city he noticed a large star from the heavens shining down upon one particular little hut. He had never noticed how bright the star was before and was completely mesmerized. Suddenly he heard a small cry from a human coming from that one hut. But why would a human be in there? That was the place where the traveling animals stayed; he knew that because he had watched them go in there for the night. He had to investigate further.

Quietly he limped down the hill toward the stable, he had never done this before without his mother but tonight seemed safe and he sensed that no harm would come of him as he made his way toward the little stable. As he got closer, the child's cries grew louder and continued as he finally arrived at the small stable.

He peered in and first saw two adult humans sitting nearby looking exhausted and not wanting to deal with the crying baby further. But where was the baby? He looked around until he saw it, making softer cries now and laying in an animal trough, one that was used for hay. The animals nearby were all watching the child too, they did not seem annoyed by his cries though, only curious.

"W-W-Why is he in h-h-h-here?" asked Daren as he walked past a Donkey.

"It has been a very crowded week in Bethlehem and my poor rider was expecting the child any day now, he was born yesterday night. And this is the first time he has cried, the parents have tried everything to make him stop but it won't work," said the donkey.

For some reason Daren was very curious about this child and wanted to see him up close, he had never seen one born so early and wondered if perhaps it needed a soft animal to touch and love.

Slowly Daren limped toward the manger until he was standing right in front of the child's face who still did not notice that Daren was there. Daren let out a quick "Baaaa" to get its attention.

At that moment, the child stopped and turned to Daren with curious blue eyes. Daren stared back and then put his head on the manger. The child then made a sweet giggle and touched Daren on the head. At that moment Daren felt a very warm calm feeling come over him as the child continued to pat him and coo over him.

"Wow why didn't I think of that?" asked the donkey.

Daren only smiled at the statement while he enjoyed the feeling of love with this new child. He didn't even care that the parents had shown up and were watching with great interest. If they wanted him to leave they would shoo him away but they were not going to try.

He stayed there for a few more minutes when he suddenly heard a familiar voice call out his name from outside. It was his mother who had awoken to find her son missing. Daren knew he had to calm her down so he quietly made his way to the entrance and peered out.

"Here I am mother," he bleated.

His mother turned to him and then ran over with a look of worry on her face.

"Why did you run away like that?" she asked.

"I heard that baby right there and I wanted to see why it was in this stable," said Daren.

As Daren talked, his mother grew wide eyed with amazement. Something was different about him.

"What did you find out about him?" asked his mother wanting to hear Daren say a whole sentence again.

"There was no room for the mother and she gave birth to him in here, that is why he is sleeping in the manger," said Daren.

"Daren! Did you notice that you are not stuttering?" asked his mother.

Daren let out a gasp of surprise and then walked toward the little child. He did not limp but he actually walked.

"How did this happen?" asked his mother.

"I don't know, I know I was stuttering and limping when I came in, you can even ask the donkey," said Daren.

"It's true he was, and then he put his head on the child's bed. Truthfully I think there is something special about that child, he cried before Daren arrived and then was perfectly silent once Daren put his head on the manger," said the donkey.

Daren's mother walked toward the child and looked down at him with a soft smile. "Thank you, whatever you did, I am very grateful," she said.

The baby then gave a coo as its little hands tried to reach out and touch Daren again. Daren understood and came forward to let the child touch him again. Daren felt so content as he stood there with his little friend.

"Daren, you are old enough, would you like to stay with the child?" asked his mother.

Daren looked at his mother and then at the child before moving forward and giving his mother and big nuzzle on her chest.

"I think he needs me mom, I can come back to the herd when the child is older or if he doesn't need me any more," said Daren.

"Then I wish you good luck for as long as you are gone, I will miss you but I know you are in a safe place, you have someone else who loves you and won't hurt your spirit," said his mother.

Daren only smiled as he watched his mother exit the stable and head back to the herd. After watching her for a moment, Daren gave a small sigh and for the first time in his young life he felt content. He then curled up next to the manger and slept for the rest of the night.

* * *

"So as you can see each person has something destined for them, it may be now or it may be in years to come, no matter what is wrong with them they are still special. Even if it's not in someone else's eyes, they are in another's," said Kijani.

"So how long did Daren stay with the child?" asked Layla.

"No one knows for sure, though they do think he lived with him until he died of old age, many years later. Others though think that the child sold him when he was twelve, believing he no longer needed him but I like to think it was the first idea," said Kijani.

"How did the child change him and what is his story?" asked Asha.

"I asked Rasul the same question and he knows very little about that human, in fact not many animals do. There was a time when there were quite a few who handed the story of what their ancestors saw what the human did but that was very long ago and stories do disappear and fade much like the changes in the scenery. He did say that he was very important to many humans; he says that they actually celebrate his birth and his death and what he did to Daren was just the first of many miracles that he performed. Truthfully I would not know why they would want to celebrate his death, if I had seen him perform miracles I would be greatly saddened, I would not want to celebrate that," said Kijani.

"Humans are an interesting species though," said Haidar.

Kijani nodded and looked down at his little group of listeners. The sun was still shining that day and he knew that they needed to play as much as they could before the next rains came. He would tell them another story later, for now he only wanted to watch them play. For each one had a special future in them and that was all that really mattered.

* * *

A/N: And there you go, I hope you all enjoyed that nice little story. I know it's a little fast but I have just been so busy lately I really wanted to write a Christmas story for you all when I had the little time I had. Again I am sorry for the lack of detail. I do hope to update this story once every two months, and share some more stories with you. And if any of you have any ideas for a good story let me know and I will try to write it out. Most of the names up there are Hebrew names save for Cyrus which is actually an Arab name and I thought it would be great for a leopard. They all don't really have a meaning, I just looked them up and I thought they were very nice. Well I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year. And don't forget to review, I love reviews.


	18. To Save a Species

It was early afternoon and Kijani had just returned from a short hunt with Haidar and Hondo. His stomach was full and his muscles were tired, all he wanted to do now was take a nice long nap before the rains came. He found a nice spot under an acacia tree and lay down before letting out a big yawn and stretching out.

Before he could relax though, Jelani pounced on him, knocking the wind right out of him. He barely had time to get his breath out when Asha, Zuri, Kali, and Layla surrounded him and began to chew on his ears.

"Uncle 'Jani, guess what we want," said Asha with an excited voice.

"I don't know, my food that was in my stomach a minute ago," said Kijani as he rubbed his stomach of that uncomfortable feeling you get after someone pushes on it.

"Eww no," said Zuri.

"How about some mud," said Kijani as he found a small pile of mud and threw it at them, Layla was quickly hit in the face by it.

"We would but then mom would have to clean us up and we hate that," said Jelani.

"So I'm guessing a story then?" asked Kijani as he gave another stretch. He really wanted to take a nap but he knew that was out of the question when the cubs were bored.

"Yup, that's what we want, and we want a creature that we don't know about, do you have any of those?" asked Kali.

"Of course I do, us storytellers have to share our stories once in a while. It's another rule for us, once in our life we have to meet with one or two of the six story tellers. I have not done that yet but Rasul claimed he met all six of them, I think he was only joking," said Kijani.

"Are all the six storytellers lions?" asked Jelani.

"Oh no of course not, each animal is from a different continent spanning around the world. There are seven of us but since I am the seventh I don't count myself when I mention the other six," said Kijani.

"What kind animals are they then?" asked Kali.

"Well let me see if I remember this correctly," Kijani thought for a moment trying to remember all the animals that were located around the world. "Well far to the west are two continents, you have to cross a big ocean to get there, that is why I don't believe Rasul has gone to it, perhaps there is a land bridge but I don't know. The north continent the story teller is a coyote named Maverick, in the south continent lives a Squirrel Monkey named Picha. To the north of us is another continent where a wild boar, kind of like a warthog lives, his name is Errol. Then to the East of us is a very big continent and a place I am glad I don't live to tell tales because I hear the storyteller tells a story all day. His name is Nhasa the tiger, though Rasul did tell me that he was getting on in years so it might be someone else taking over for him. Then to the south of that continent in a much smaller continent lives a Wallaby named Mindy. Then to the very far south in a very cold island where others rarely go to is a king penguin named Flips. And speaking of penguins I plan on telling you a tale about them."

"What is a penguin any way?" asked Layla.

"Well the best description I can give you is a bird that can fly but not in the air, it can only do so underwater," said Kijani.

"Woah! Does it look like an ostrich?" asked Asha.

"No it's much smaller than an ostrich, its black and white though and it waddles instead of hops like most birds do," said Kijani.

"So what's its story about?" asked Zuri.

"I was just getting to that you silly girl, for you see penguins mate for life and they live in a very harsh environment especially for the emperor penguin. Whose story I am going to tell," said Kijani.

The cubs all sat closely as Kijani began to tell them a new tale from the farthest reaches of the world.

* * *

Coldness, utter coldness. That's what many creatures think of when you mention the southern most continent. Some call it Iceland, others call it The Desolate Place, but to the many penguins that live there, they call it The Nesting Grounds.

Now there are many different species of penguins, most are found in The Desolate Place from the largest Emperor Penguin to the little Adele. But there have been some who stray farther north and seek warmer waters, like the jackass penguin. Yes they are called that but only because they sound like one, not because they act like one.

All but one kind of penguin is territorial, the ones that are out the best place to nest with their mate who they love for life. And together they protect their next from other penguins who want it to be their home as well, or from predatory birds who want to eat the young chicks.

But the Emperor Penguin is much different, when the time comes to lay the eggs. The male takes it and covers it up in his downy feathers just above his webbed feet and he warms it for many days while his wife goes back to sea to look for food. Now that doesn't seem too bad to you, until you know what dangers lie ahead.

The sea is not as close as you think, sometimes it can be hundreds of miles away and some of the wives are lucky enough to return alive, if they are not eaten by a shark or a seal. The males however must endure freezing cold weather, winds blowing fiercely, and no sunlight for more than a month. Together the males huddle for warmth, their eggs nestled just above their feet, all of them hoping and waiting for winter to end and that life will begin anew.

But their story was not always like this, for hundreds of years the emperor penguins were just like other penguins, they kept the eggs warm under their downy feathers in a little shallow spot all by themselves, and there they would stay all winter trying to stay as warm as possible.

Because of this, the penguins were slowly dying out, most of the chicks never hatched and some were lucky to make it past the first month. The fathers even had their problems, often dying of hypothermia and their poor wives would return home to find their beloved husbands as stiff as a piece of ice in the water. It was such a tragic tale for them all until years later.

Roland was a young penguin when it happened; he had just found a mate of his own named Gwin. Both were very scared and were unsure if they wanted to have a child, not after seeing most of their friends die from the terrible cold. For almost three years they decided to wait until they felt they were brave enough to try and every year it was the same thing, penguins kept dying left and right.

Roland's father though was the toughest of the penguins, he never gave up and that was why he was the most respected penguin in the whole clan. He had the most children survive and he usually taught others how to withstand the cold.

Roland had often asked his father for advice but usually, Roland will leave his father still feeling as nervous as the day he first hatched.

Of course Roland's father was getting impatient with him; he wanted a grandchild from his favorite son and soon decided to give him a better lecture on surviving.

"Being a coward is something I don't want to tolerate from you," said his father one day before it was time to start the yearly tradition of egg hatching.

"But father, Gwin loves me so much, she does not want me to die all alone out here in the freezing cold let alone loose something that we worked so hard on," said Roland.

"Ah but trying is the first step towards failure, sure it might not work the first time but if you try again and keep at it then you will get lucky," said his father.

"Yeah but I don't know, most of my friends are gone because of this cold weather and pretty soon there won't be any of us left because of what we do. What's the point of procreating if your species is going to die any way," said Roland.

Of course Roland's father really did not like his attitude, with a quick peck on the head; Roland's father gave him the biggest lecture of his life before dragging him to Gwin to make sure that this year Roland was staying with the clan no matter what.

Of course both Gwin and Roland were not happy with this but they knew that they would eventually have to get it over with and a few weeks later, Roland found himself balancing an egg on his feet while Gwin waddled away toward ocean to look for food.

The first few weeks of the egg hatching wasn't so bad, the sun was up for a few hours and the penguins would gossip about what they would name the chick or how they hoped to keep warm during the dark days. Roland was the most quiet though, not saying a word as he listened to his friends congratulate him on finally trying parenthood out.

It was a few weeks later when the sun finally set and would not be seen for many months, the wind began to howl and the snow began to fall freezing everything around them. Roland stood there all alone trying to keep the egg warm and watching his friends around him as they tried their best to survive. It was a miserable experience and for a whole week he stood there shivering and thinking horrible thoughts about his father who forced him into trying this. If he lived through it he hoped that he would talk Gwin into never trying the idea again.

A week had passed and poor Roland was feeling exhausted, he hadn't slept much thanks to the cold and all he wanted was to be by Gwin's side. He knew that she would make anything warm in this weather. He looked around him, the other penguins looked as miserable as he was; some had actually kicked the eggs into the snow and left them there while they traveled to find the ocean for food. He wondered how close those penguins were to their mates and if they would bother seeing each other again.

Roland knew he had to take his mind off the terrible cold and decided to leave his spot and find a friend of his named Beau. Beau was a more wacky and wild penguin who was always willing to try something out. So far he had tried to hatch two eggs in two seasons but sadly both did not hatch. But he kept his spirits high and was willing to try for a third time. Roland slowly made his way over to Beau who was actually sleeping in this horrible weather.

Roland nudged him and he quickly jumped up looking particularly groggy and annoyed, a rare sight for him.

"What do you want, stay out of my spot, this is mine and is probably not as warm as yours," said Beau.

"Sorry I just came to say hi," said Roland.

"Oh well in that case, hello Roland, how are you holding up on your first try?" asked Beau as he tried to sound nice as possible.

"I'm cold and I want Gwin by my side, no wonder we are dying off, it's just too cold here, maybe we should settle somewhere else," said Roland.

"But our ancestors were born here and so were we, we have to keep tradition even if we like it or not," said Beau.

Roland gave a heavy sigh, and watched as all his breath came out in small ice crystals. He had to close his beak back tight though before the cold went into his lungs and tried to freeze them, a mistake many penguins made.

Roland then looked up at Beau, he had no idea if it was the cold or just the idea of thinking about Gwin but for some reason he wanted to huddle close to Beau. Slowly he moved forward. For a moment Beau stood there before looking at his friend nervously.

"What are you doing Roland?" asked Beau.

"Do you ever think about how warm your mate is when you stand there all alone," asked Roland.

"Of course, I think everyone does, but why are you standing so close to me?" asked Beau.

"Well I know it sounds strange but perhaps we should huddle close, perhaps our warmth can keep us and the eggs alive," said Roland nervously.

Beau stared back at him unsure of what to think about all this but then he noticed how much warmer he felt with Roland standing next to him, he wasn't shivering as hard.

"You know I think it might work, lets see what happens," said Beau.

Together Roland and Beau stood side by side, keeping their heads down as the wind blew around them. After almost an hour of standing side by side, they felt a bit warmer but still cold. It was around this time when Roland's father waddled past to go check on him when he saw him standing there with his best friend. He looked at his son with strange eyes.

"What in the world are you two doing?" he asked in an unsure voice.

"Well I had enough of standing alone and we both decided to see if we can keep warm if we stand together, who cares about territory, this is life and death we are talking about," said Roland.

"Well yes but, you are cuddling with a male," said Roland's father.

"Hey friends can do this if they want to stay alive, now come join us or go away," said Roland as he motioned his father to come over.

Roland's father hesitated for a moment before finally making his way over and getting as close to Roland as possible, he did not want to have anything to do with Beau, he barely even knew that kid.

After a while all three were getting warmer and soon the entire colony was noticing how there were three penguins standing side by side. Soon there were twenty penguins all huddling together to get warm, and after a week, almost the entire colony was standing together staying as warm as possible. Yes there were some who believed that it was week to ask for help and they stayed outside the circle acting like they were not cold. Little did they know that they would be the ones whose eggs would not hatch once the sun returned.

The sun finally returned a little over a month later, everyone huddled together and watched as the sun rose again, warming their feathers and bringing back the day that they missed so much. In a few days the eggs began to hatch and for the first time in hundreds of years, more chicks survived their first hatching.

Roland was of course congratulated for his idea of huddling together for warmth and when the wives returned they were all amazed to see little ones hopping around and waiting for food.

And so as the years went on, the Emperor Penguin became numerous again. More eggs hatched and more penguins began to survive. And it was all thanks to a young penguin who was unsure to begin with, Roland.

And to this day, young penguins are taught about Roland's way of helping the colony grow, no one will ever forget him for he was one of the greats.

* * *

Kijani gave a loud yawn once he finished the tale while the cubs looked up at him wide eyed. They were still trying to imagine what cold weather would be like for them.

"And that's my story for now, I hope you all don't mind if I take a nap for a bit?" asked Kijani.

The cubs all stared at each other, they really did want another one but by the look on Kijani's face, they could tell he was not in the mood for a few more hours.

"I guess we can go play then, we can always ask for one before bedtime," said Kali.

"Yeah for now we can all try to imagine what cold is like," said Jelani who then climbed off a nearby rock and started running towards the savanna.

"Yeah that sounds like fun, I wonder what a seal is too," said Asha as she ran behind Jelani. The other three were not far behind.

Kijani watched them go with one eye still opened before he finally curled up ready to have a nice nap but that was not before Conga decided to have a chat with him. She had been listening in the tree above them and had really enjoyed the tale.

"Great story there Kijani, I've heard of those penguins I would love to see one myself eventually," said Conga.

"Yeah me too, maybe one day when I am not so full and tired," said Kijani.

"Yeah maybe someday, how about when you leave to tell tales to others? I can come with you, hopefully I will be retired by then?" asked Conga.

"Maybe, now go on your own journey, you probably have another hawk to kill," said Kijani before he flipped over with his back toward Conga.

Conga only stared back annoyed by how Kijani didn't want to talk any more, but he had been hunting all day. She might as well watch the cubs and maybe perhaps find a suitable replacement as the next advisor.

* * *

A/N: Yeah I know this chapter was like the last one, not very detailed but I blame it on the fact that I just started it because I am stuck on another story right now, and I just wanted to get it over with. Yes I have a new Simpson story coming up in a few days so if anyone is interested just come on over. It's a very good story so far, I am enjoying it. Any way if you are wondering how I got the idea of this chapter, I was watching Planet Earth and the narrator said that Emperor Penguins don't have territories like other penguins do and so this idea came to me. If you have not seen Planet Earth, do me a favor and watch it, it is the most spectacular documentary I have ever seen.

Well I have no idea when I will update again, I'll probably do it once every two months. This story is already a year old and I still have many more stories to go on with this one. Including a chapter in which Haidar becomes king and Conga finds her advisor, you'll be very surprised to find out who it will be. So I hope you all have a nice week and I will see you all really soon.


	19. Cheetahs Can Prosper

"Come on Momma, I don't want to miss out on anything," said Kifaa's calf Matari. He was now a month old. In the past month, Matari watched as his mother relayed messages to Conga and would often hear about Kijani and his story telling. After a week of begging, Kifaa finally gave in and decided that now was the perfect time for him to meet the famous story teller.

"Matari, Kijani is probably not even awake yet, and I haven't even seen Conga, I think it might be a little too early," said Kifaa as she caught up to her calf and gave him a quick lick on his face since there was some leftover milk.

"Then when can we go, I really want to hear a story," said Matari while his mother licked his face.

"Soon enough, let's wait for Conga first, she can lead us, I don't want the lions to think you are breakfast," said Kifaa.

"But I thought we were friends with them," said Matari.

"We are, but they only saw you for a few hours after you were born, you have changed a little you know," said Kifaa.

"Oh yeah, I was very wet wasn't I?" asked Matari with a smirk.

Kifaa only smiled at him before looking toward Pride Rock, the sun had risen only a half an hour ago and Conga would be making her way toward them very shortly. Matari watched her for a moment before deciding that he needed to behave, it was a hard thing to do when you were so excited. For a few moments, he kicked the ground around him stirring up a few bugs in the process which he watched with curiosity.

Matari did not know how long he was waiting, all he knew was that Conga was taking forever and he was getting very bored.

"Oh you're in luck Matari, look who's coming," said Kifaa with a smile.

Matari lifted his head and gave an excited smile as he saw the majordomo make her way toward the two giraffes. With great happiness he ran in circles, kicking up dust and snorting very loudly. Kifaa quickly put a stop to that by standing in front of him, causing Matari to land on his rump and look at his mother with a sheepish grin.

"My goodness what is he so happy about?" asked Conga.

"He wants to meet Kijani today and I told him we could not see him until you arrived," said Kifaa.

"Oh I see, though last time I checked, Kijani was snoring like a baby with all four cubs and Hondo sleeping on top of him. You should have seen it," said Conga with a chuckle.

"So he's not even up yet?" asked Matari who now seemed a little annoyed by how his mother made him excited for no reason.

"Oh I bet he is now, those cubs don't sleep forever like him," said Conga.

Matari then let out a huge grin, he knew he was like the cubs and usually woke Kifaa on a number of occasions. Matari was a very excited little giraffe and Kifaa was not sure who he took after. She was more quiet and calm and Mazi was stern and tough. Mazi said that he was a very shy calf before he became an adult. It made Kifaa wonder if he got it from his grandparents or other relative she didn't know about.

"Can we go then Momma?" asked Matari.

"Shhhhh, patience Matari, I still have to relay information to Conga," said Kifaa.

"Oh can't you do that while we are walking?" asked Matari.

"Matari, Kijani will not leave, the cubs probably want to hear a story too, now please be good or you will not be going at all," said Kifaa in a stern but calm voice.

Matari let out a huff while Kifaa discussed the nights events with Conga, not much had gone on but it was important for Conga to know so she could relay it to Kiara or Kovu. Since Matari had nothing else to do, he listened to their gossip. Kifaa would tell Conga all about it while Conga would usually respond with what Kiara or Kovu would say. To him it was very interesting.

After a few minutes, both bird and giraffe had finished talking and Kifaa looked down at her calf with a satisfied grin.

"Are you ready?" asked Kifaa.

Matari only nodded as he started to run, but Kifaa quickly stopped him. Matari looked up at his mother curiously while Conga watched from Kifaa's head.

"Remember what I said a few minutes ago?" asked Kifaa.

"Oh yeah the lions won't know who I am, so Conga should lead," said Matari a little embarrassed.

"That's right," said Kifaa.

"If you want, I can lead Matari, I know he will get excited as he gets closer," said Conga.

Kifaa only nodded while Conga perched herself on Matari's head, between the barely visible oscicones that had yet to grow. Matari then led the way while Conga held on, hoping she would not fall off as Matari began to make a run toward Pride Rock. For such a little calf, he sure could run.

They reached Pride Rock in a long enough time that would hopefully give Kijani some time to wake up and stretch his tired paws. Conga had to quickly stop Matari from going any further so she could warn the pride who were now standing about under a tree getting ready to start the day. They had seen the young giraffe make his way toward them and they watched with curiosity wondering if it was lost until they saw Conga appear. She flew toward them and quickly landed in front of Kiara with a heavy huff, beating a young giraffe was hard work now that she was older.

"Please do not hurt the giraffe, they are friends and the little one wants to hear a story from Kijani," said Conga.

Kiara looked at Conga and then up at Matari who was standing nearby waiting to be invited over by Conga. Kifaa soon caught up with Matari huffing and puffing like Conga and waiting for introductions.

Kiara stared back at the two giraffes trying to get a good look at them until she let out a surprised gasp.

"Is that the little one who was born behind Pride Rock a little over a month ago?" asked Kiara.

"That's sure is, his name is Matari now," said Conga.

"Wow looks like he grew like a weed since I last saw him," said Kijani as he moved forward while at the same time trying to groom a paw, he was still trying to wake up.

"Yup, and he wants to hear a story from you," said Conga.

Kijani smiled before finishing up his paw and then looking toward Matari with a smile. "Come on over, I would love to tell you one," he said as he motioned him over.

Matari grinned from ear to ear before running full speed toward the pride and stopping just in time in front of the cubs who had just arrived to investigate the newcomer. Kifaa knew the lions well and only walked with grace toward the pride to listen to Conga tell Kiara any news.

"What the heck are these things any way, they only seem to be nothing but legs," said Asha.

"Yeah and that neck, did he stretch it too far?" asked Kali who craned her neck to look up before Matari bent his head down and gave them a goofy smile.

"Matari is a giraffe, they have long legs and necks so they can reach the top most trees and look out for predators like us," said Kijani with a chuckle.

"Yeah but not only do I have long legs and neck but I got this long tongue too," said Matari who stuck out his tongue as far as he could. Jelani quickly swatted at it before he pulled it back in.

"So we eat these things, how do we even kill it, I mean shouldn't it breathe no matter where we bite on that neck?" asked Asha.

Matari looked at the cubs nervously before Kijani quickly interrupted. "That's why we only prey on the old or sick, these guys can knock your heads off if they want to," he said with a wink to Matari who quickly nodded in agreement.

The cubs all stared back wide eyed while Kijani quickly leapt up on a nearby rock under a tree and watched as they all introduced themselves. He would have a few more minutes to wake up and tell a tale and he began to sort through his memory for any good tales to tell the young giraffe, the first one he would remember.

Once introductions were made, Kijani quickly cleared his throat, getting the youngsters attention and soon they were all around him ready to hear a story.

"So Matari, since it's your first real story do you have anything in mind that you want to hear?" asked Kijani.

"Hmmmmm, well I'm up for anything really, I was told you were really good by Conga, so you pick one you think I and my new friends will like," said Matari with a grin as he started to lie down next to the cubs. The cubs were more mesmerized by how long it took him to fold his legs down and lie there. Kijani laughed at this for a moment before responding.

"Well then let's see, how about a story about cheetahs?" asked Kijani.

"Oh yay I love those kinds, which one is this one?" asked Zuri.

"Well have you ever noticed that when animals have stripes or spots the ones with stripes have stripes like the zebra and the ones that have spots just have spots like Matari there?" asked Kijani.

"Yeah, it helps us blend in," said Matari.

"Very true but have you noticed that cheetahs also have two stripes?" asked Kijani.

The cubs all searched through their memory boxes as they tried to remember if this was true, Matari only watched them, he had not met a cheetah yet but he knew he would one day.

"They have two stripes on each side of their faces and there is a story about how those face stripes came to be," said Kijani.

"Oh now this story sounds interesting," said Matari.

"Ah good so I can continue?" asked Kijani.

Matari only nodded his head while the cubs leaned up against him ready to hear their morning story.

* * *

As you all know, cheetahs are the world's fastest animals, able to run past even the fastest gazelle as it tries to rescue its youngster. Their sleek bodies are able to help them be stealthy in the long grass and capture the food that they want, and they move with careful pawsteps, barely making any sound as they pursue their prey.

But they were not always sleek and fast, oh no sir! Thousands of years ago the cheetah was the slowest animal in Africa and the laziest. So lazy that they were in danger of going extinct because they rarely moved and only scavenged. As the years went by the cheetahs were dwindling in number and all were dying because they would not move around.

Kya, the most mystical of all shaman in history noticed this problem. She consulted the spirits and the gods of Africa about this problem and all of them warned that cheetahs would become extinct if nothing was to be done. Kya loved cheetahs though, they always fascinated her when they were actually doing something and she liked how small they were compared to the lion and the leopard.

It was then that she got an idea; she would ask one of every carnivore to come to an important meeting saying that it was a matter of life and death. She told a friendly hornbill to let those in the land know of the meeting and in a few days, one of every carnivore arrived. First it was the lion, then the leopard, then the hyena, the mongoose, the painted wolf and several others but she did not see the cheetah. Concerned, she asked the animals around her.

"Where is the cheetah?" asked Kya once the animals had settled.

"Bah what are your chances of getting that lazy creature to come to something," said the leopard with a sneer.

"Yeah, all they'll do is listen and complain about small details like we don't help them in any way, I say if this is a matter of life and death, then let them die," said the hyena.

"I would but I am more sensitive than that, if they won't come to me then I will come to them and bring them here," said Kya who then jumped off her rock and ran off to find the nearest cheetah.

It was not long before she found one, sleeping in the grass, she would have most likely missed it if it wasn't snoring louder than thunder.

Kya quickly went over and knocked it on the head with her cane. The cheetah woke up with a start but didn't move very much, only enough to show that he was awake and not very happy about it.

"What, can't you see I am trying to sleep," said the cheetah. He was still young but as Kya could see, he wasn't in the best shape, his stomach was very bulgy from eating nothing but the scraps he found that the other carnivores left behind and the fact that he never did anything but lie around.

"Yes I do see that, but I think a meeting that involves life or death is more important," said Kya who then started dragging the cheetah toward her meeting spot. The cheetah, whose name was Kitwana only growled but stayed put, there really was no point in arguing with the great shaman.

Once Kya had brought Kitwana into the group she began to speak.

"Now I have a reason for this meeting, the gods have told me that there are too many carnivores in Africa and that they need to eliminate one of you to suit the needs of these gods. Now I know this is a terrible thing to do but you can't win with the gods they have the power to do anything they want," said Kya with a small lie.

The carnivores suddenly went into an uproar, angry that the gods would even do this.

"But we have done nothing wrong, we have only made the land well by keeping the herbivores in check," said a mongoose.

"And we don't lash out at the gods if we have a problem, we know it is their plan and we respect that," said a lion.

"Yeah if it weren't for us carnivores then I would never be able to find food easily," said Kitwana.

At the sound of his voice, every carnivore turned to him, angry with how the cheetahs had rarely hunted. Suddenly their was a huge uproar as all the carnivores turned on Kitwana calling him names that I dare not repeat and telling him how useless his species was. The argument would have probably gone on for a good millennium if Kya did not stop the fight by yelling as loud as she could. Everyone knew how she yelled; it could be heard as far away as the jungles which were actually very far from where she was.

"I know you all have had your anger issues with Kitwana and his species but I know he can change all that if he and you all can make the test I am about to give you. I want you all to run to Hercules point before sunset and if you make it then your species is spared. The last creature to reach the gates will pass on as the years go by," said Kya.

Now Hercules Point was part of a rock formation and many called it that because it was a huge boulder that was split down the middle and everyone believed that only a strong creature could ever do such a thing like that. From where they were standing, it was three miles away and it was already late afternoon. Several of the carnivores grumbled including Kitwana who quickly sank down in the dust and began to sob a little. He didn't really want to show that he was upset and instead began to lick his paw while doing so. Of course the lion and the leopard were very interested in this idea and were ready to go whenever Kya gave the word.

"Okay now as soon as I wave my paw, you all may run toward the rocks, I will see you there shortly," said Kya while the carnivores began to stand in position. A few seconds later, Kya waved her paw and all the carnivores took a run toward the rocks all except for Kitwana who was still lying in the dust looking upset about the whole thing.

"Kitwana, why are you not running?" asked Kya.

"Because I will loose no matter how hard I try, this was a very unfair race you made up," said Kitwana.

"Unfair or not you still need to try, life isn't about being lazy, it's about going for your obstacles and you need to go for it. I think your species are amazing; you guys just need to learn to hunt on your own and not rely on others for food. You guys can do amazing things if you believe in yourself, you have the coloring to hide in the bush and you have the teeth to bring down anything," said Kya who was holding Kitwana by the chin and petting his soft head. Kitwana moaned for a moment thinking about how hard it would be for him until he thought about Kya's words.

"You know you are right, I will try my hardest even if it kills me," said Kitwana who slowly got up and without looking back at Kya began to run as fast as his chubby legs could carry him.

Now you four remember when I told you about Homer and how he raced to save Lisa's life in that one story I told you a few months back. Well imagine a cheetah with the girth a little bigger than Homer's running as fast as he can to save the life of his own species. Only this time it was much farther and there was no evil lion out to destroy anything in particular only the gods upset over what will become of the noble cheetah.

Poor Kitwana, the last time he had run before was when he was only five months old, he had run from a hawk who had tried to eat his siblings. He was the lucky one but his brother was not quick enough and he was caught before he could even try to follow his brother. His mother had been snoring in the grass when it happened and she did not act sad when she found out later what had happened to him. Of course that was the usual reaction to the death of a loved one.

When he was five months, he was not as fat as he was now, he was actually only a little pudgy but enough to make him want to explore and be like a young cub should. Once he left his mother though, things changed and he began to be what he is now. (Why am I suddenly thinking of Wall*e?)

The sun was getting lower in the sky when he was halfway there, but Kitwana could feel that he was slowing down, all the energy that he started with was now draining out of him. Kitwana couldn't even see his competitors in front of him and he knew that they had probably reached the rock by now, he suddenly felt hopeless and he wanted to quit. He slowed down and began to go into a trot breathing heavily while his stomach moved back and forth from running so far. He looked down at the dust, ready to collapse into a heap and just give up until Kya's words came to him. He remembered them for a moment thinking about how much she loved to watch his species for what they did, they were capable of doing great things, they just had to work harder for it.

Kitwana let out a growl and stamped his foot down before deciding that he needed to do what Kya wanted him to. Finally he let out a big puff of air which sounded like a very bad wheeze because he was still catching his breath from last time; this caused him to cough heavily for a moment. Once he got his breath back though, he tried again and took off without a second thought.

As he raced toward Hercules Rock, he thought about his species and what would become of them if he made it. Perhaps Kya could teach them about running fast and for them to hunt like a real carnivore should. They needed to stop being lazy. Kitwana though was also getting nervous, the sun was starting to set and he knew he had a long way to go. He wanted to beat the sun, he wanted to win he did not want to give up.

Then with as much strength as he could muster, he began to run faster than he had ever run before. He ran so hard that he could barely feel his feet moving and he could feel the wind hitting his face causing him to shed heavy tears that kept falling near the bridge of his nose leaving a dark mark behind. But Kitwana did not care any more, he kept going, he was not going to give up.

The sun was now just a sliver over the horizon and Hercules Rock was in sight, was he going to make it? He believed he would as he started to make his way closer, tears falling down his face and his vision getting blurry from it. He was almost there he could sense it, his legs now numb from running and his heart pumping faster than it had ever pumped before.

Before Kitwana knew it, the sky was dark and hundreds of stars were shining above him. Kitwana suddenly panicked he noticed that he was lying on the ground. He jumped up but quickly fell back to the ground; his legs were still very sore and numb.

"Oh good you survived," said Kya who was actually sitting on a nearby rock not far away.

"I didn't make it did I?" asked Kitwana with a sad voice while Kya made her way toward the exhausted cheetah.

"Actually you made it with one second to spare, you weren't looking where you were going and just fainted right here between the split of the rock," said Kya.

"Did the carnivores see it?" asked Kitwana hoping that what he did proved his strength and tenacity against the others.

"They did and they are proud of you for it and I talked to the gods," said Kya.

"What did they say?" asked Kitwana.

"They liked your willingness to keep going, in fact they liked it so much they have a plan for your species now," said Kya.

Kitwana stared at Kya with curiosity, she had not heard of the gods bestowing anything on his species. The last time they did so they had given the mane to the lion for his bravery.

"They have given your species two things, one the ability to run faster than any other land mammal. But first your species needs to be told that they have to go out and get their own dinner. And secondly I have to show you what you have received," said Kya.

Kya quickly helped Kitwana up and led him to a small water hole next to one of the rocks. Water had been collecting there for years and it was now a sacred place for the shaman to go and think. For a cheetah to join a shaman at that place, it was surely special.

"Now look at your face, what do you see that is different?" asked Kya.

Kitwana stared at his face for a moment unsure of what was different. He rarely looked back at himself at a waterhole so trying to figure it out now was going to take a moment. Once he figured it out though, he let out a gasp of surprise.

"I have stripes on my face," he finally said.

Kya nodded. "They are the marks of what you went through to help your species out. You ran so hard that you cried and left dark fur behind from them. I liked it so much I asked the gods to give all cheetahs that mark from now on."

Kitwana stared at Kya and then launched himself at the shaman hugging him in the way a cheetah could. Kya hugged him back and then pushed him off so they can start heading back from where they came.

"Now you promise that you will run and catch your own prey now?" asked Kya.

"Oh I will, I promise, running is not that bad, I guess one of my ancestors did not want to compete with any one," said Kitwana.

"Perhaps, everything has a history behind it. Now I am going to tell other cheetahs this, you may as well and pretty soon your species will prosper," said Kya.

Kitwana only smiled back at her before parting ways and running back to his den, he had a new purpose in life and he wanted to make sure he lived that purpose.

* * *

Kijani stared back at Matari whose mouth was wide open listening to it with awe. Jelani decided it would be fun to swat at his jaw bringing Matari back from his trance.

"That's it?" asked the young giraffe.

"Yup that's it," said Kijani.

"But I want to hear more, that was amazing," said Matari as he jumped up, Asha still on his back.

"I bet it was," said Kijani as he let out a stretch.

"Will you tell me another one, how about one you told the cubs already, I don't care what!" said Matari with still very excited. Kijani only smiled back at him.

"Okay calm down, and I will tell you another one, how about I tell you about Amari the giraffe?" asked Kijani.

"Yes please!" said Matari who then bounced up and down again finally sending Asha back down to earth with a thump.

Kijani only laughed before finally starting the story while Matari stood nearby listening as best he could.

* * *

A/N: See I told you I would come back every two months. Though I am debating about the next two months, I am currently doing that Simpson's story and I had to literally pry myself away from that just to give you guys this story. So we will see, it will be the 20th chapter too so maybe I should give you guys a really good one. I just need to decide on what.

Any way about this story, this one has been in my mind for probably a good ten years. I remember learning about fables in I think either 7th or 8th grade and one day while reading one of Aesops fables I wondered to myself if there was ever a story about cheetahs and their black stripes. So yeah this story finally got off the ground. Hooray for me! And here are the name meanings:

Matari: Rainy season

Kya: Diamond in the sky

Kitwana: Pledged to live

So yeah there you go, hope you all enjoyed that and please review when you can. I'll be back in about two months or whenever my Simpson's story is over. Either way that story will probably be done in about two months any way. Eh you never know with me. I have weird schedules.


	20. The Cubs Tell A Story

Kijani's tail swished back and forth as he lay under the acacia tree, Hawla beside him breathing slowly and enjoying the cool rainy season air. Hawla had arrived early in the morning from the misty pride to see the one she enjoyed the company of, and Kijani was more than thrilled to see her, even though he was really not supposed to love. But sometimes love can never stop and Kijani proved that as he continued to enjoy Hawla's company.

"What would happen if we ran away together and started a pride all our own?" asked Hawla.

"Then stories would cease to exist and the whole continent would fall apart without a story to tell," said Kijani.

"Hmm that does sound bad, but is there a law where you cannot spend time with me?" asked Hawla.

"I don't think there is, so we are safe," said Kijani.

"How would you know that you are doing something wrong?" asked Hawla as she lifted up a paw and licked it carefully.

"The first story teller would come to me in dreams and tell me and he would haunt me until I learned to do something right, so I don't want to cause any problems," said Kijani.

"Oh I'm not forcing you, I was just curious," said Hawla.

"There is no law for that, and besides…OUCH!" Kijani jumped with a start causing Hawla to jump up as well and look around to see what caused Kijani to suddenly jump in pain.

"I got him you guys, he won't get away from us now!" A young voice yelled from the direction of Kijani's injured tail region.

Hawla looked down to see Kali with her claws digging into Kijani's rump and the look of happiness on her face as if she had caught her first prey. Kijani only sat on the rock, not sure what to do.

"What are you doing here?" Hawla giggled at the sight.

"We came to bring Kijani back, we want to tell him a story, plus he is not supposed to kiss anyone, it's against the law for him to kiss anyone," said Asha who appeared out of the bushes with Zuri, Jelani and Layla close behind.

"Yeah so come back to the den, we want to tell you a story," said Jelani as he gave Hawla and angry stare.

Kijani only looked back at his listeners confused. "When did I say I was not allowed to kiss?"

"Uhhhh…….It was a while ago, so I can't remember but I know you said that," said Jelani.

"Are you sure, I just said I could not have a mate, kissing is not bad," said Kijani.

"But kissing brings babies," said Kali with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I thought your mother explained the birds and the bees to you guys," said Kijani.

"Only a little bit about it, she didn't go into great detail," said Asha with a grin.

"Ah I see," said Kijani who then looked over at Hawla with a bit of worry. Hawla only stared back, she was having such a nice time with Kijani and now the cubs had come to change all that.

"But we really want to tell you our story we made up just for you, can you please listen to it?" asked Jelani in the same kind of face his great-grandfather had when he wanted to do something very badly.

Kijani looked at Hawla, Hawla let out a warm smile, it was not every day a cub told a story. So why not listen for once.

"Why don't we Kijani, it will be entertaining and they can leave us alone afterwards," said Hawla.

"I guess so, perhaps one of them can take my place," he said with a silly grin.

"Do you think one of us will be your heir?" asked Layla.

"Ha! No I was only joking, the one who will take my place will not be born for years from now, I still have many years to go," said Kijani.

The cubs all looked down on the ground, a little upset that Kijani would say something like that. But Jelani was quickly unfazed because he remembered that he was going to be king in the future and being king sounded a lot more fun than moving all over the place to tell stories.

"But can we still tell it?" Jelani asked as he leapt onto Kijani's back and began to pull on his ears.

"Of course, I would not want to upset you children. As long as my ear does not fall off first," said Kijani who then shook his head causing Jelani to fall off him and roll off the rock. Hawla watched the young cub with nervous eyes, hoping he did not hurt himself from the fall. But Jelani was unfazed and jumped up with excitement ready to tell the tale.

"Is there any specific place where you might need me and Hawla?" asked Kijani.

"Nope, just stay there while we set up behind that bush," said Jelani.

Kijani lay where he was listening for the cubs. He knew they did not go far, he could hear them whispering behind a bush in front of them. He looked over at Hawla who let out a small giggle at the idea of the cubs telling the story teller a story. Kijani was fascinated and he did wonder how well they would do. Finally Jelani jumped out of the bushes looking very serious and ready to tell the tale.

"Once upon a time when it was dark and stormy night a lion paced back and forth on a rock," Jelani began with a very serious voice.

"It is wet and its cold and I wish I had a place to stay," Kali said as she walked out looking very depressed.

"But he didn't have a place to stay for he was no ordinary lion; instead he was a giant lion who was bigger than an elephant!" Jelani said excitedly as he jumped up and down.

"But how did he get bigger than an elephant?" asked Layla who was apparently the one who was asking questions because she now sat on a nearby rock waiting for her cue.

"Because when he was a cub, he met a hornbill who gave him some berries that would make him grow into a giant, but the bird did not tell him that and the bird was never seen again," said Jelani.

Asha then appeared out of the bushes and tried to act like a bird by moving her paws up and down as she sat there while Kali approached her. Asha then pretended she had a berry in her paw and Kali quickly grabbed it and ate it. Kali stood there for a moment before finally jumping up and down as if she was growing bigger.

"What is a poor giant lion to do when no one wants to talk to him?" Kali asked with a worried and sad face.

"Because of what happened, all the other lions shunned him, no one wanted to play with him because he would step on him and they would all die because of that and no one wanted to die. So they kicked him out," Jelani narrated while Zuri moved forward and tried to kick the "giant" Kali but Kali simply walked away.

"So I wander the savanna all alone," Kali said with a pout on her face.

"Ah so you are the giant lion everyone is talking about," Zuri said as she appeared as some kind of creature.

"It was the shaman of the lands and he had heard of him but he had never seen him but that was because he was blind," said Jelani.

"Whoa wait a minute!" Kijani interrupted.

"Yes Uncle Kijani?" Asked Jelani in a very annoyed voice.

"How did the shaman know it was him if he was blind?" asked Kijani.

"Because he heard him, lions have a different sound than an elephant so he knew it was him," said Jelani.

"Okay I guess that makes sense," said Kijani.

"Hush now, let them finish," said Hawla as she bumped him in the shoulder.

"Yeah Kijani, show some respect for the amateurs," said Layla.

Kijani rolled his eyes and let them continue. There was a long pause for a moment until Jelani growled at Kali. Kali quickly jumped up from the realization that it was her turn.

"Yes I am that lion," said Kali with a sad voice.

"And the shaman said, how did you get so big?" said Zuri trying to sound older like most of the shamans she had met besides Jabir.

"And the lion said, I ate a berry given to me by a hornbill, the berry made me big and I have not seen the hornbill since," said Kali.

"And the shaman said, I would help you with that but since I am blind I have not seen him either," said Zuri. Kijani slapped himself on the face for that remark.

"And the lion said, so there is nothing to help me become smaller?" Kali said with the look of hopelessness in her face.

"And the shaman said, not that I am aware of but that's because I am blind, I only know the medicines from the past shaman, I can't make up any new things," said Zuri.

"Hmmm interesting excuse," said Kijani said softly to Hawla. Hawla only bumped his shoulder again in annoyance.

"Then what is a poor giant lion to do?" said Kali as she moved her paws up and down as if she was about to give up.

"You must find the hornbill who made you into a giant, he probably has a berry that turns you back into your normal size but I don't know I'm a very bad shaman," said Zuri this time with her eyes closed.

"At least he admits it," Kijani commented yet again, Kali actually heard it.

"Do you mind, we are trying to tell you a story, we don't interrupt you when you are telling it!" she said.

"Yeah 'Jani show some respect," said Hawla as she cuffed him in the ear.

"Sorry," Kijani said sheepishly.

The cubs stared back at him for a moment before Layla continued looking a bit annoyed but still excited about what she was about to tell. "So the lion traveled through the savanna in search of the elusive hornbill. He searched high and low and stepped on quite a few when he thought he found the right one. But it was only the hornbill's cousin or sister and once it was the hornbill's father and he had a very bad back afterward and now he can't fly because of what the lion did. But the lion was willing to give him a lift so he could help him find the hornbill. It wasn't until five days later though when they ran into him, he had been looking for his father." While Layla told the story, Kali pretended to be the giant lion and stepped on different 'hornbills.' Asha then appeared in front of Kali, Kali then let out a gasp and hugged Asha tightly. Asha tried to push Kali out of the way because her sister was so strong.

"I have been searching all over for you, I've had enough of being so big," said Kali.

"Well you did try to eat me," said Asha angrily as she also checked herself over to make sure her bones were still intact.

"But making me bigger really did not make sense because then I could eat as many as ten hornbills which could then make you extinct," said Kali.

"Oh well I was not thinking that, I do have a berry to make you smaller but do you promise not to try and eat me again?" asked Asha who was now trying to sound like Conga and she was doing a very good job at it. Kijani and Hawla both laughed.

"I promise," said Kali as she lifted up her paw with a serious face.

"And so the hornbill gave the lion the berry that would make him small again and everything was back to normal," Layla said with a satisfied grin while Kali pretended to eat a berry. She then lay on the ground like she was smaller and grinned at Kijani.

"And that's our story for you Uncle Kijani, what did you think?" asked Jelani.

"Yes what does the reviewer think?" asked Hawla with a silly voice.

"Aww I can't be a critic?" asked Kijani.

"Well you can but…you can't kill a critic," said Layla in a matter of fact voice.

"Oh dear I guess I better give you a good one then," said Kijani nervously.

The cubs all bounced up in the air ready to hear what Kijani had to say about their little story to him. Well each one of them had a feeling about it. Layla waited patiently not caring what he would have to say but was still a bit optimistic because she knew she tried for someone so young, Kali tapped her paw ready to hear the response now, Asha was smiling from ear to ear knowing that they told the best story in the world. Jelani looked at his uncle nervously thinking that he would say something horrible about what he had just done. And Zuri, well she was biting her claws but ready to defend her story if Kijani said anything she did not like.

"Well let's see, what can I say about your little story to me," Kijani said slowly as he paced back and forth.

"Please hurry I want to know!" said Kali who was then shushed by Jelani.

"Okay calm down… well for first timers you did well, there still needs to be plot structures and things but you'll learn in time. But I am proud of you guys, you were brave enough to tell the story teller a story you all made up," said Kijani.

"So…?" Jelani said with his head tilted a little confused.

"I'm confused, are you saying it's good or bad?" asked Layla.

"It's good, there is no such thing as a bad story, there are those out there that don't like a certain story but that's because they have different tastes. A story must be worked out slowly and be told with great care so the reader can enjoy it. The teller can add more to enhance the characters…well character and over time they add more to create a well worked out plot. So I will say this, if you all try to tell it to me again in a year I bet that it will not be good but extraordinary," said Kijani.

As Kijani said this, the cub's eyes lit up with amazement of the thought of creating something better, Jelani looked at the triplets and Layla with great curiosity and they all nodded in agreement.

"Then we will tell it to you again in a year and I will bet it will be better than anything you have ever told us," said Jelani.

"Yeah so you better watch your back Storyteller!" said Layla with a sly grin.

And with that the cubs ran off into the bushes to play a game while Kijani watched them go with a grin on his face, while Hawla continued to giggle quietly. Kijani noticed this and looked at her curiously.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh I think you have competition, but that was a very good speech you gave them at the end, it's very true," said Hawla.

"Yes, Rasul told me that and I will live by that rule because I know even my stories can be revamped and made even better, I just have to find someone to listen," Kijani said.

And with that both Kijani and Hawla lay back down under the acacia tree, enjoying the afternoon air together until the storms returned.

* * *

**Important A/N**: I think there is a moral to this ending, I'm not really sure though, I'm a lot like Jelani at the moment, often nervous about what others have to say. Sorry about the long wait, finally finished Love Thy Neighbor and that story taught me that I needed to slowly work on stories to make them stand out. And that one kind of did, I miss it now already and when I started on this chapter I just had so much trouble trying to start it, and I am still not happy with it, it just looks like lazy work or half assed crap, whichever way you want to put it. But I knew I needed to update plus bdlywrttn wanted it that way and you don't upset that woman believe me. Truthfully I feel that I am losing my connection with these characters and truthfully I don't know how long it's going to be before I just want to stop. So I want to ask you all if I should continue, you may answer me in the review you give me, or better yet the poll I will put up in my authors note. I know I told a few of you that this story is going to last a while but things change, and this change happened when I was working on my last story. So please let me know, I know it's terrible for me to say these things but it's the truth and telling the truth is a lot better than a lie.

So please review when you can, I will talk to you all later.


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